Bloody Moons
by fire-and-ice9800
Summary: Yugi a young human boy is the only survivor of his homes masacar, travel with him as he learns more about himself and meets a strange boy named Atemu and his friends Joey and Tristan.
1. Prologue

I wasn't always like this. Big amethyst eyes, dirty black hair, a craze obsession with meat, and with dirt so old and dried like mud that it covers me head to foot. I'm surprised people don't think I'm some lifelike mud statue.

No, I wasn't always like this. I lived a different life; I was a different person back then. Back then I wasn't driven by revenge and hatred. I wasn't always eager to learn new ways to kill the man who has killed so many. I wasn't always eager to eat raw meat.

I used to be a noble. Born from two noble parents, I was of noble blood with two older brothers and one younger sister. The aristocratic blood used to flow proudly through my veins, never once tainted by those below us. But you wouldn't have guessed that from what I look like now, sitting alone in a forest-covered in dry mud and blood all over my hands, face, and clothes. If you can call them that any more. They more resemble my dog's chew toy now, mere rags.

I used to wear fine clothes tailored to my every curve. For years,I was taught how to read and write and how to be the perfect gentleman. I never would have thought twice about a beggar on the streets; never have dreamed of sympathizing with one. But now, now I understand them and treat them with respect, respect I never would have given before.

You probably don't believe me. But it is true I was of noble blood despite my beggar look. I was, I admit, an ignorant child thinking everything was perfect, that nothing bad could happen. That my family were perfect and had done nothing against God and the Bible. I believed in God and the devil back then. I believed the world was made up of black and white.

Back then I was a snob. I looked down on everything. I had servants and I treated them horribly. I treated them worse than the dirt on the soles of my shoes. Shoes that I no longer have. I treated many people like that. I had many enemies and little friends in the city my family ruled.

We traveled to many different cities actually, and everywhere I went, no matter whom it was, no matter what city they ruled and no matter their status in society, even if it was higher than mine, I treated them worse than anyone could have imagined. I was a bratty child with no respect for others. Who would want to befriend such a snooty spoiled brat?

Because of that I sit here in a forest with no money, no food, no shoes and my clothes reduced to tatters and rags. But now, now I have friends. I am different now. I no longer have that ignorance that nobles and children have.

I no longer think that the world is black and white. No longer do I believe in the Devil or God, Good and Evil. I am now a cold-hearted bastard with little to no feelings. I used to though. Remember that as you read my story. I had emotions. I had feelings. I was arrogant and childish. But that was before.

That was before I died.


	2. Part One Evolution Chapter 1

_I would Like to thank my Beta phantomworks _

* * *

_'Ugh'_

He groaned as an annoying sliver of light slipped through the cracks in his curtains to trail across his eyes.

_So annoying, and I was having such a nice dream about Rebecca._

Rebecca was a noble his age who just so happened to be an extremely pretty young woman. She had long curly locks of golden hair that fell just below her slim shoulders and icy blue eyes that were shaped like almonds. She had a petite nose that turned up slightly at the end and perfectly shaped eyebrows. Rebecca had the smallest ears and the tiniest mouth with full pouting lips. She had slim hands and a tiny waist. She was the perfect picture of a perfect English woman, every little girl in the city wanted to grow up and look just like her.

Rebecca loved to laugh and smile. He loved her smile and laugh as well and he tried to bring it out of her every chance he got. She laughed at everything he said and smiled every time he looked at her. Rebecca always got a slight pink tinge to her cheeks if he sat close to her or put an arm around her shoulders. So he made sure to do that a lot since he thought she looked so cute.

He groaned again. _I really need to get rid of that annoying beam of light that interrupted my fantastic dream. Stupid light. _He grumbled.

But as he thought about getting rid of that annoying beam of light he remembered that he had to actually get up. Getting up and out of bed and crossing a room, he would definitely have to leave the comfort of his bed and warm sheets that wrapped around his body. Doing so would just wake him up completely and then he would never be able to get back to sleep and have more wonderful dreams about Rebecca. He sighed, _Rebecca_.

_When I'm older I will marry you and we will have plenty of will have our own city to rule over just like my parents. And you, you will love me with all your heart and do whatever I ask of you without question. If I had a wife who didn't do what I asked and didn't make sure that the children did what I asked, why would my servants do what I ask? And why would anyone else for that matter? _

_Why. They wouldn't and I would be a laughing stock of the city. So I have to have her do whatever I ask without delay or question. Someone who will set an example to others, send out the message that I am the boss, that I am the ruler. Yes Rebecca, you will be the perfect wife._

So instead of getting up and shutting the curtains more securely, he did the next best thing, besides actually getting up and starting his day like he should, seeing as it was probably close to breakfast time. He rolled over and put the pillow over his head, curling up like a cat under the covers.

_Ah. Finally, that stupid annoying beam of light is gone and now I can go back to having more dreams of you my beautiful Rebecca._

Drowsiness slowly started creeping up on him making his eyes itch, despite them being closed. His limbs became achy and felt like led once more as his mind became fuzzy. He yawned once more and as he nestled into his pillow – _BANG_, the door burst open. Startled, he sat up just as a blur with dark brown hair darted by before promptly smothering him.

He gasped as the breath was taken from his lungs. When he managed to get his breath back he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Get off of me Isabelle before I throw you on the floor!"

He heard muffled laughter coming from his chest before a pair of sparkling eyes looked up at him bright with mischief and laughter.

"You wouldn't throw me on the floor," she said with childish confidence and a smug look.

He smirked and raised his eyebrows at her.

"Wouldn't I?" He questioned, dragging out the "I" before quick as a flash he deposited her on the floor. He smiled at her shocked and dishevelled appearance. He chuckled at her before picking her up off the floor.

"You're right, Isabelle, I wouldn't throw you on the floor. I would dump you on the floor!" he laughed at her angry look. "But there must have been some reason that you burst into my room, nearly breaking my door, I might add. You know how expensive that door was? Enough, though, what did you want? You, my little friend, interrupted my dream. Why did you interrupt my dream? It was a good dream, too! So why did you, you a little tiny imp, interrupt my dream? That was one of the..."

Once again she interrupted his ramblings by shouting at the top of her lungs,

"SHUT UP OR SO HELP ME GOD I WILL TEAR OUT YOUR TONGUE!"

_Wow, what a set of lungs. I wouldn't be surprised if God himself didn't even hear that. The way she was screaming she probably woke up half the city._

_She's only ten and she can wake up the whole city without breaking a sweat. I fear for the poor guy that has to marry her. She's uncontrollable. She never listens. Too much spirit in her my father always says. _

Despite his dislike for women with spirit and preferring a wife without one, he wouldn't want his sister to lose that spirit. So, he tries to keep it by letting her get away with anything. He usually takes the blame for most of her pranks. But he doesn't mind, the women love it after all. They think it is so cute how he takes the blame for his baby sister and protects her from all the evils of the world. It was sickening, sometimes, the way the women clustered around him saying things like how adorable he was, how cute he was and how they wanted sons 'just like him', or wanted their sons 'to act just like him'.

But, by putting up with it, the girls soon get interested and come flocking to him. Wanting a husband just like him, they would say. Someone 'who was just like him', that's what the girls want; someone 'who will protect their children, despite the consequences'. Someone 'who understands children', they say, 'how they act and behave'. Whatever, as long as girls like him for it, he'll continue to take the blame for her.

But, back to the present, he can't help but stand there shocked at how loud she can yell.

Appearing satisfied with the ensuing silence, she let a smug smirk cross her face. Without another word she turned on her heel, pink dress spinning around, and walked out of the room calling over her shoulder.

"Don't forget, we have to go to church in a couple of hours. Get dressed and come down for breakfast before mother and father come get you themselves. You know they won't be happy about having to wake you up when you're 16 and should be able to wake yourself up."

She rolled her eyes as she said this before walking out of the room with one last smug look.

_I hate it when people do that_, he thought to himself. _I hate it when people remind me that I should be able to wake myself up. There are servants for that stuff. Speaking of servants, where are my clothes? They should have been brought to me by now. Stupid servants, they don't know anything. Why don't we have smarter servants that actually know what they are doing, why are all of our servants dumb?_

"Servant!" he screamed as loud as he could. He sat down at the end of his four poster bed and waited. As he waited he looked around the room taking in the surroundings that never changed.

The room had dark red velvet curtains, glass doors that led out to the balcony that connected to a guest bedroom. It provided a lovely view of the city. You could sit out there for hours just watching the people below. The merchants screaming out prices for new dishes or fabrics, the women screaming for their children to behave in front of the palace and not make a scene.

He snorted_. A bit late for that, woman_.

Basket weavers were running around harassing the passing buyers trying to get the good people of the city to buy their cheaply made baskets. They all seemed to resemble a bunch of sticks messily staked upon one another with a giant hole in the middle, rather than the finely made baskets that the merchants claimed they were, if you were to ask his opinion.

_Ah, yes, the balcony is a lovely spot to be when you felt like watching the pathetic people of the city running around like headless chickens. _He mocked to himself.

In the room there was a small round table with a blue vase filled with red roses and some other types of flowers that I can't be bothered to name. The table only came to a little above his waist. It was made out of a dark mahogany asmost of his furniture was.

Except the door, that was oak.

There were large windows, portraits of his family, his mother and father on one side and one for each of his brothers and sister on the other side. There were bookshelves filled with books and chairs to sit and read them on. There was a fireplace and the floor was made of oak with a red carpet accented with gold fringe. The lights in the room were set in brackets mounted on the wall where a candle sat in a glass ball thing, and the walls were painted a jade green with mahogany trim.

Just as he finished observing his room for the fiftieth time a servant arrived. She was a young African woman. She had rough calloused hands from working, not like the delicate smooth hands of his mother and sister. The maids' hands were worse than any man he had ever had the misfortune of laying eyes upon. Even the soldiers took better care of their hands.

_It's disgraceful for women to have hands like that. But it is also disgraceful to have black skin, too. Enough of that now. _He thought.

The servant looked nervous, as most are when in the presence of the Lords' son, she continued to wring her hands bowing and asking what he wished of her. He repressed a shiver of disgust when she spoke to him.

"Servant, where are my clothes? They are supposed to be brought here every day before the sun rises. And you have forgotten that. Did you think I would not notice? Did you think I would let you get away with this? No, I did not forget and you will be punished. Your pay will be reduced and you will not be allowed any food for today. Now be gone and send my clothes up. I do not want to see your face againtoday. Be gone!" He raged unfairly towards her.

By the time he finished, she looked to be in tears. He couldn't help but feel dark satisfaction in that. When he ordered her to leave the woman all but ran from the room. When she thought she was out of hearing he heard her let out a sob.

"And be quick about it, servant!"

He heard the scamper of feet down the hall to the stairs before it was silent again. A couple of minutes later another servant came up with his clothes for church.

When the door was shut he climbed off the bed and proceeded to strip out of his night-clothes and into the clothes for church.

_Church, it is the bane of my very existence. _He thought sourly.

He believed in God and he made sure that he confessed every week no matter if he had any sins or if he didn't. Yugi did everything that the church told his family. But Yugi hated going and sitting in that stuffy room with all those servants and beggars and merchants. He hated being that close to people that he thought were below his status, but as the son of a noble and the son of the Lord and Lady of the City Exeter, he had to go for public reputation and so he didn't dishonor his family's name or go against the will of his god.

So he began the start of a very long and very boring day. He went through the usual routine that he and his family went through every morning. Sit down in the dining room, get served the usual breakfast, eat breakfast and once they were all finished and ready to go they would proceed to walk through the streets to the church. On the way many passerby's stopped to wave and exchange greetings with the his family. His parents would greet them warmly. Though he just turned away and ignored them all, after all they were below him. Right?

They finally arrived at the church and took their respective places and listened to the priest.

Hours later he walked out of the church, sighing as he went. He was so tired he could pass out. He didn't want to stay around and talk to people.

_Why can't I just leave? All I want is to go back to the manor and sleep, but no I'm supposed to stay here. Well screw that I'm going home. _He thought to himself.

He approached his mother and father slowly. Shoulders set back and head held high, like any noble, he walked with an air of confidence. Arrogance some would call it, but he called it confidence.

"Mother" said he boldly, gaining her undivided attention.

As he expected she turned around and looked at him, then smiled warmly.

"Yugi, we were just talking… oh dear, you look so tired."

"Yes. I am tired Mother. I would like to retire for the evening." Yugi asked quietly, so as not to make a scene.

"But Yugi the guards are still speaking with their families and your brothers are talking to some of the other nobles and your sister is younger than you. You should really take a page out of their book and not be so stubborn all the time and talk to some of the citizens." She once again smiled and his father as usual wasn't paying attention

Flushing with anger at being told to act like his brothers, Yugi angrily exclaimed "Well, I am so sorry, _mother, _that I am not like them. If you will excuse me, I have better things to do than stand here and listen to your incessant chattering. Good night,_mother_."

With that said he quickly spun on his heel not caring what she felt or thought at what he had just said; anger, most likely.

But, had Yugi turned around or stayed for a moment longer he would have seen the hurt and sadness that flashed through his mother's eyes before she masked it; once more becoming the noblewoman she was born to be, cold and emotionless.

Yugi made it back to the mansion in good time, dodging the drunkards and managing to bypass his childhood bullies. It didn't take nearly as long as it did to get to the church. But that might have to do with the fact that he was practically running. Tears of rage, shame and frustration streamed down Yugi's face when he closed the bedroom door.

_Why couldn't my mother accept me for who I am and not constantly compare me to my siblings and telling me to be like the other children? I just wanted to be my own person, but she always wanted to make me someone else. Someone I can't be, and it hurts that I can't be what she wants. It hurts that people see me as arrogant when I'm not; it's only just a mask._

_I'm a coward. I'm a coward to not show who I really am, so for all my life people will see me as arrogant and stuck up, because I am a coward. Why am I such a coward? Why can't I be brave? Why am I so wimpy and short?_

He quickly pushed those thoughts away. He shouldn't feel upset that she couldn't accept him. But at the thought of her, his own mother, the woman who had given birth to him, not being able to accept Yugi for who he is caused a feeling of rage to build up. Rage at her and his family as well as at the whole world.

_Merchants, they had it easy. They didn't have to deal with living up to a perfect image, they didn't have to travel to different cities and socialize with stupid nobles. All they had to worry about was if they had enough food to feed their families with._ He sighed.

"Stop it," Yugi muttered. "Thinking about this won't make it better. Just get some sleep; everything will be better in the morning"

How wrong he was.

* * *

You might have noticed some racism towards people with darker coloured skin. This is in no way a reflection of me. I have no problems with different skin colours. However this story takes place in the 1200's and back then there was a lot of racism against skin colours as well as sexism.

You'll also notice that Yugi mentioned the state of her hands, back then the texture of your hands ment everything. Those with higher status had smooth hands signifying that their servants did everything where as servants, slaves or peasents etc and rough textures to their hands.


	3. Part One Evolution Chapter 2

**_I would Like to thank my Beta phantomworks_**

* * *

He remembered dreaming. Nothing unusual, for that's what people do when they succumb to the darkness and let their eyes close only to gaze at nothing.

But all that peace and quiet was shattered as screams filled the quiet night air, and fire lit up the night sky, orange and yellow flames flickering in the night air. The pounding of feet on the streets outside his window and his sister, dear sweet Isabelle, ran to him sobbing to save them, to wake up, to not be dead.

Yugi awoke, startled, mind still clouded from his deep slumber - still seeing the women he had been dreaming about. But reality came crashing down on Yugi as the sounds of chaos and destruction filled his ears and his sister, sobbing her heart out on his floor, filled his vision. Everything but her became blurry, only the sound of her sobbing filled his ears. Nothing mattered right now but her.

Yugi had a million questions zipping through his head so fast that he nearly collapsed on the floor beside Isabelle because of the dizziness those questions caused.

_Who-what-when-where-how, what was going on, what was going to happen to me, what is wrong with Isabelle? Why is she crying! _

So many questions, so little time, how true that saying is. Yugi took one more look at Isabelle. She was so small, so frail, so broken looking. He was afraid that if he asked her anything she would start crying all over again. Then he would never get his questions answered.

Yugi thought for a moment, before he made his decision.

_Questions can wait, Isabelle can't_.

"Isabelle," he whispered softly, trying not to frighten her as he knelt next to her now still body. She was no longer crying, just hiccupping, trying to stop. Yugi knew she didn't want him to see her cry.

She slowly lifted her tear stained face, swollen, red puffy eyes looked into wide amethysteyes. Sadness and despair radiated from her tiny body. No longer were those startling blue eyes filled with joy and happiness. Now he only saw emptiness in them as if she had given up on everything, almost as if she lost her soul, as if she had lost all desires to live.

She mumbled his name barely above a whisper. She mumbled more things but Yugi couldn't understand her. He leaned closer to her mouth, her breath coming ragged and forced, blowing his black, violet and blonde hair about every time she breathed in and out. Finally she spoke again. It was clearer this time, easier for Yugi to understand.

"Yugi, they won't move, Yugi, they won't listen to me, they keep ignoring me! WHY WON'T THEY MOVE?" She yelled brokenly.

That one sentence told him everything. It answered all of his questions. But not with the answers Yugi was hoping for. Isabelle thought that their mom and dad, their family, were ignoring her and just sleeping. But Yugi knew better. He knew it was the end; they weren't ignoring her, not by choice any way. They were dead.

_Someone wanted us dead and they would be coming after us soon to finish the job_.

He stroked her head murmuring comforting words in her ear. He told her it would be alright that she should just sleep and he would fix everything and by the time she awoke it would all be back to normal.

Empty words, words that held no meaning, nothing but lies, lies that she would childishly cling to believing them to be truth. He was trying to convince himself more than he was her, but she believed him all the same and that was what mattered.

After a few minutes of this her body relaxed, her breathing evened out and her eyelids slipped closed. Yugi carefully picked her up and carried her over to the bed where he gently laid her down before walking over to the window, pushing aside the curtains.

The sight that Yugi was greeted with made him sick. Men dressed head to toe in black ran around the streets setting fire to the buildings and shops, people too. They ran around cutting people, stabbing people. There were so many of them.

The citizens of the city were running around in their night-clothes, screaming at the top of their lungs for God to save them, asking, begging, and pleading with the men in black to spare their lives. The men in black gazed at them from behind black masks before killing them mercilessly, without pause and without regret.

Laughing as the blacked clad men asked cruelly with a mocking tone, "Where is your god now?" before laughing and lopping of their heads and stabbing the screaming and crying children, and all the while the men laughed at the poor confused citizens.

Yugi looked down. Directly below the window was Jonouchi, his older brother,

_My idiotic brother who was going to get himself killed. Why didn't he just stay inside? Why does he always have to play the hero? Why did he always want to be the white knight like in the bedtime stories? _

Yugi wanted to shout out to him to tell him to get back in here and stay with them, he wanted to cry and scream in frustration, but he did neither. Yugi held his tongue not daring to even breathe as he watched.

Jonouchi had a sword in his hand and a fierce look on his face. Jonouchi was fighting one of the men in black, shouting at them. The fight went on for several minutes, Yugi's brother gaining the upper hand when quick as a flash his body crumpled to the ground, blood forming in a puddle around him as his head rolled to the side. Jonouchi's sightless eyes stared up at the sky.

Never would Jonouchi be able to laugh and smile, never would he blink those honey brown eyes, so devoid of emotion, never would Yugi be able to talk to him, laugh with him, yell at him. He was dead and it made Yugi sick when the realization set in.

Yugi quickly turned away and purged the contents of his stomach all over the floor_. _

_We have to get out of here. I have to get Isabelle and Charles out of here. Mother, Father and Jonouchi are dead, and if we stay here any longer, we will share the same fate as well._

It was time for Yugi, Isabelle and Charles to get out of Exeter for good. Yugi turned around and practically ran to the bed, picked Isabelle up and ran out of the room in search of Charles. Never once did he realize that there were tears running down his faceuntil Isabelle wiped them away for him, repeating the words that, not so long ago he said to comfort her. Unlike her they didn't comfort him, they only made it worse. Reminding Yugi that it won't get better, it won't be alright, that no matter what he says or does, _I can't bring back the dead_.

They slowly approached the last door in the house that led to the last room in the house that they didn't check.

_If Charles isn't in this room he's either dead like Jonouchi, lying somewhere in the street or he ran away from the city like a coward, not caring about what happened to the rest of his family._

Yugi took a deep breath and opened the door. Yugi could feel Isabelle's tiny hands griping his shirt tightly. Slowly the door eased open creaking slightly. A lone candle was lit in the empty room casting a flickering yellow glow over the walls. Yugi stared at the candle for a few moments before he heard Isabelle's scream. Yugi jerked out of the trance he was in and put a hand on her mouth, telling her to be quiet lest someone hear them. When Yugi felt her head move in agreement to what he said he slowly removed his hand from her face afraid that she might start screaming again.

"I'm sorry, brother; I won't scream, I promise I won't. But why is there so much blood?" she whispered looking on the verge of tears.

As soon as she said the word blood Yugi become frozen with fear.

_Blood_? _What does she mean by blood I don't see any blood_?

But as that last thought filled Yugi's head everything stopped and finally he understood. The blood was all over the floor splattered everywhere, staining the once beautiful golden walls an ugly red. And then Yugi noticed Charles, lying so still on the floor, a look of pure agony etched on his face, which would remain there till only his bones were left.

No matter how hard Yugi tried to forget that image, he will always remember it. That one scene will always haunt his dreams more than any other, taunting him, as if saying,

'Why didn't you help us? Why did you let them kill us? Why did you let them torture us Yugi?'

For that is what Charles went through, torture. From the look on his face and the blood splattered on the walls, his arms and legs bent in unnatural positions, you could tell he was tortured before deaths' cold embrace finally took pity on him and took him away from the land of the living. Never would he be able to return.

"Help him, Yugi. Go back. We have to help him! YUGI, DON'T LEAVE HIM!" Isabelle screamed at him, tears running freely down her face, screaming that he was alive, that he could be saved.

Whether this was true or not, Yugi didn't know.

_It was too late; I wouldn't be able to help him. There is no bringing back the dead. _He thought to himself.

"They are dead Isabelle," Yugi told her harshly. "There is nothing I can do. They are all DEAD! We are the only ones left alive. We can't waste time trying to save people who are too far gone to save. I'm sorry Isabelle. I am so sorry. I want to help them just as much as you do but I can't. Everyone is dead."

Yugi sank down heavily to his knees, tears coursing down his cheeks, sobs wracking his frame, clutching Isabelle as if she was his life line, which at the moment she was.

_We are alone, so utterly alone. We are the only ones left. Everyone else is dead; Charles, Jonouchi, Mother, Father. I hate them all._ _I was so cold and distant to them all but now I realize that I miss them, that I had never hated them. I loved them and they loved me and never would I be able to tell them how much I loved them because they are dead and I am alive. I want so much to join them in death. I want to tell them face to face how much I love them._

Yugi was so close to actually taking up the sword of one of the dead guards and running it through his aching heart but he didn't because there was still Isabelle, he had to live for her sake.

They stayed there for what seemed like forever, clutching each other for all they were worth, sobbing their hearts out as if it would bring everyone back to life, back to the living world. As if when they opened up their swollen eyes that their grief would bring everyone back to life.

"They're dead." Yugi whispered hoarsely.

Yugi had clung to the idea that they were alive, that crying and sobbing with Isabelle would bring them back. But it wouldn't, they were gone, gone to the land of the dead and he was here in the land of the living, their families souls had moved on. Isabelle continued to scream at him, hitting and punching him, yelling that Yugi was lying, that they were alive.

She quieted, slowly sobbing, grief and despair wracking her small frame. She had realized even before Yugi that everyone was dead but she didn't acknowledge it completely, didn't want to accept the bitter truth.

But when she found Yugi alive, hope had coursed through her veins and her childish belief convinced her that her older brother could fix it and make it better.

Yugi was a god in her eyes. She always believed that he could make anything better, just like he did when she got in trouble. Yugi was always there to take the blame, to make it better for her. Whenever she got into a fight he was always there to stop it, always there to fix it, and this time Yugi couldn't fix it. This time he couldn't make it better.

Yugi had let her down. He had broken her heart when Yugi told her they were dead and now she was finally realizing that he wasn't lying, that it was the truth. She was only now allowing that truth, that unbearable truth that Yugi was still trying to deny, sink into her childish mind.

They sat there on the floor clinging to each other. No more tears, no more sobs, no more, anything. Only dry sobs wracked his frame and hers, nothing else.

Finally all the crying and all the grief had lulled Isabelle into a deep sleep and he followed into an uneasy sleep filled with visions of Charles' unmoving broken body, Jonouchis' dead, unseeing eyes staring at him. The fire still raged, consuming the small city which Yugi always thought was a giant city, a great city he thought that could never be attacked. And then visions of Isabelle laying there, her head rolling off her body, dead, unseeing eyes so like Charles', staring up at him, conveying the same message that Charles did.

'_Why didn't you help us? You could have saved us'. _This went on for what felt like hours. Over and over their dead faces and broken bodies swam in and out of his tortured mind.

The men in black, faces covered with black masks staring down at Yugi with vicious grins promising him death. Promising they wouldn't leave until Yugi and Isabelle were dead, that they would torture him just like they did Charles and that they would kill Isabelle just like they did Jonouchi. Yugi screamed at them that he wouldn't let them, that he would get revenge, and that he would kill them. But they only laughed at Yugi and his dreams were once again filled with the burning city and the bodies of his mother and father, holding tight to each other, fear still radiating from their long dead corpses.

Yugi cried once more in his sleep, fear and anger slowly replacing his grief and despair and slowly the fear gave way to rage, rage and anger. He would get revenge. He would avenge them no matter what. But first Yugi would have to find somewhere for Isabelle. Take her someplace where she would never be found, somewhere where she would be taken care of so he wouldn't have to worry about her as Yugi pursued his mad quest for revenge and searched for answers to the millions of unanswered questions still running around in his head.

Yugi got up on shaky legs and once more picked up Isabelle. He had a plan and he would stick to it. Yugi wouldn't die and neither would Isabelle. They will live, they will get through this.

Together Yugi and Isabelle slowly walked out of the burning house, which Yugi always thought of as a palace, down the dark deserted streets, past the burning and bloody corpses of the villagers. Suddenly Yugi received a blow to the back of his head. He stumbled forward. The last thing Yugi remembered hearing was Isabelle's screaming before he saw the face of a grinning man dressed in black and then another one taking Isabelle from his loose grasp.

Yugi feebly tried to get her back but the men in black only laughed. Yugi's head was buzzing and he was losing focus everything was disappearing the ground had faded to black, the sky and the edges of his world and the edges were pressing in. And then everything was swallowed in the dark labyrinth of unconsciousness.

When Yugi regained consciousness he was still in the dirty alleyway. The fires were out and only ashes remained of the once tall and proud houses that had made up the city. Yugi could smell the death and destruction. Fear and desperation slowly welled up inside of him, replacing his anger and rage. He feared not for himself but for Isabelle_. _

_Where is she? Is she dead like the rest of my family? No! She can't be! I won't allow it!_ Yugi screamed to himself.

He didn't realize till he heard the chuckling of his captors that he had screamed out loud. Yugi then felt ropes digging into the skin on his wrists. Yugi glared up at the man with the black mask. He hated them with a burning passion that he had never felt before. The hatred consumed him, hatred he has never known and it scared wasn't him, yet at the same time it was, and it confused and scared him. It must have shown on his face for the man just laughed at Yugi.

"Don't worry, oh noble one. We won't hurt you... yet," he said before he swiftly turned away, still chuckling.

Yugi looked around once more but this time fully taking in his surroundings. Isabelle lay across from Yugi, still unconscious.

_I guess they got tired of her screaming. Not that I can blame them, her screaming got on everyone's nerves. _

Blood was running down from a cut on her head leaking into her eyes. Her body was limp. If it weren't for her tiny chest moving up and down Yugi would have thought that she was dead. But she was alive, but everyone else was dead. They had to get out of there before they killed them too. But that seemed impossible now for here they were, both tied up and Isabelle was unconscious.

One of the men leaned down to her limp form. Yugi growled at him but he only glanced at Yugi as one of the other men kicked Yugi in the head. Yugi felt a sharp pain and shut up but he still felt the rage inside him. Anger contined to build up as he saw the man lean closer, brushing the hair out of Isabelle's face, almost gently, before smirking and smacking her hard on the face. The sound of the slap rang through the empty streets, her head whipping back from the force and a large angry red hand print was forming on her cheek.

"Rise and shine, my little sleeping beauty." The man laughed when tears ran down her cheeks and laughed harder when a pathetic whine escaped from her lips as she tried to massage her hurting cheek.

Yugi lunged at him with all his remaining strength. Yugi's shoulder crashed right above his hip, hard enough to leave a bruise. Yugi caught him by surprise which was what he had been aiming for. He had just enough time to swear before the both of them went crashing to the ground while the other man who still wore a mask kicked Yugi sharply in the back, but Yugi didn't pay attention.

Yugi turned quickly onto his stomach and then jumped up to his feet. Nothing but getting revenge, making them pay for what they did to them, to everyone. Nothing else mattered, not the pain in his head or back, not Isabelle's sobs for Yugi to stop, not the even sword that was pointed in his face.

Now, being a young noble Yugi has never fought before, but that rage and anger seemed to know how to, so Yugi let it guide him and tell him what to do so Yugi listened. Yugi was no longer scared of it. Yugi now embraced it, using it to his advantage, it was a part of him and by letting that rage take control and guide him he knew that they would be able to get out of this mess alive.

Quickly Yugi brought up his bound wrists and used the sword pointed in his face to cut the rope. It cut easily. Yugi grabbed the sword by the blade, heedless of how it cut into his skin. He wrenched it from the man's slack grasp. Yugi quickly grabbed the hilt of the sword and plunged it into the back of the man, who he had rammed to the ground, stopping the man who had been attempting to strangle Isabelle, then turned around and thrust the sword into the chest of the other man. His shocked expression would remain frozen on his face. Slowly the rage gave way to numbness as Yugi fully understood and realization set in on what he had just done.

"Oh my God," Yugi whispered as he gazed at the dead man's face, and then at his blood stained hands.

_I just ended two people's lives, two human beings, two living and breathing people. Never will they smile and laugh, never will they walk and talk and experience the joys and sorrows of life, but, most importantly, they will never be able to hurt anyone ever again. But still, I killed someone, not one person, but two…I killed them...I have taken a life._

Yugi felt sick. He felt nauseous. Only now did he become conscious of the fact that he had blood splattered on his face as well as his clothes. He tried to wipe it off but only managed to smear it all over his face and add more to his already blood soaked hands.

He felt tears run down his face, not for the men he killed but for the act of killing itself. It goes against everything he had been taught. Yugi had found pleasure in killing these men. He should be sad and guilty about killing them, but he wasn't. Yugi was happy because he knew that by doing this he was saving many innocent people from death.

Yugi sank to his knees, begging forgiveness from God. He felt Isabelle more than saw her crawl over to him and he felt her tiny arms wrap around his neck. Yugi felt her put her head against his chest. He buried his head in her soft brown hair, willing away all these emotions that he was drowning in. So many emotions that Yugi didn't understand.

_Why, oh why, couldn't it end?_

Slowly he drifted once more into an uneasy sleep, clutching Isabelle closely. Yugi knew that they wouldn't be attacked again. He knew there weren't any more men in black. He didn't know how he knew this; he just knew that nothing would harm them that night. Before he allowed himself to slip into unconsciousness he whispered to Isabelle.

"It's over, they're dead… It's all right, I'm here…Sleep…we will talk tomorrow." Yugi felt her sobs subsiding as he felt his tears slowly stop and both of them slept undisturbed that night.


	4. Part One Evolution Chapter 3

_**I would Like to thank my Beta phantomworks**_

* * *

The morning light streaked across Yugi's face. Slowly he opened his eyes. Yugi looked at Isabelle curled up at his side, face buried in his shirt. He looked at her neck. Large purple bruises were forming in the shape of their captors hands. Other than that she seemed okay.

_Well, physically anyway, who knows about mentally?_

Yugi detached her hands from his shirt, planning to go look around. He stood up, or tried to, but immediately he discovered that was a bad idea as pain shot up his spine and realized that his head was throbbing from all the hits that it had taken the previous night. He sighed.

_It doesn't matter. We had to get out of here. There was nothing left and no one alive so what is the point in staying in the deserted village. All it would bring us would be misery.'_

Yugi knew that he had to ignore the pain but he couldn't help but moan. It hurt a lot more than he expected.

_Who knew that getting kicked in the head and back would result in so much pain, but the main point is I won't be able to carry Isabelle._

"Isabelle." Yugi gently shook her awake all the while whispering her name. Slowly she came awake, groaning at him to shut up.

_Isn't she charming? It seems that she has temporarily forgotten what had transpired the previous night. What a lucky girl. Unfortunately this temporary memory lose will not last._

"Isabelle, we have to leave now."

"Now? Why now?" Isabelle asked groggily.

"We have to get to Oxford. Okay, it's going to take a while but we can make it. I won't be able to carry you, and there aren't any horses we can take, but I'm sure we can get some food out of the ruins for the journey… the earlier we head out the better. So come on, get up."

"Alright… but why Oxford when Winchester is closer. I mean, Winchester is closer, isn't it?"

Yugi looked at her for a long time; _she really was too smart for her own good. So, why didn't she understand why I want to go to Oxford first? _

_Of course she wouldn't know. She was too young to go with us._

"Yes, Isabelle, you are right. Winchester is closer but in Oxford we have a family there, an Aunt and Uncle. So it makes more sense to go straight to the city where we have family. Right?"

By now they were walking up to the ruins of their once proud house, heading towards the kitchen to see if there was any food left for their journey. They needed enough food to last them at least a week.

She looked up at him, a crease forming between her eyebrows, her lips set in a frown.

"If we have an Aunt, why didn't I know about her?" she asked in an accusatory voice.

_Oh geez, how am I supposed to answer something that I don't know myself? Oh well, time to make something up and hope it sounds convincing. But I'm a terrible liar. Maybe I will come close to the truth._

"Well, you were young when we decided to visit Aunt Tea and Uncle Seto. So Mother was afraid of taking you with us so she stayed back to look after you. Aunt Tea and Uncle Seto don't know you, because we were going to take you sometime this year and surprise them." Yugi looked down at her as she gazed up at him, trust shining in her eyes.

She trusted Yugi to always tell her the truth. She still thought he could make everything better. Yugi was going to say something else when he felt that something was watching him. Curious Yugi looked around.

_Maybe it's another survivor_.

But when Yugi looked around there was nothing, no sign that anyone was watching them, but he swore something was. Mentally Yugi shook himself for such foolish thoughts.

_Everyone was dead. They aren't coming back. It's impossible._

The two of them continued walking through the ruins. Down the hall through the charred doorway and into what remained of the once proud and luxurious kitchen. All that remained were a couple of cupboards that once held all the food waiting for the servants to take out and make delicious meals with.

But there were no servants anymore. The table remained, where the servants would prepare the meals, a bit of the counter where they would put the dirty dishes waiting to be cleaned and the sink where the servants would wash the dishes and the food.

Together Isabelle and Yugi made their way over to the half destroyed cupboards. Yugi reached out to the handle and opened the door only to have it break off the hinges. He dropped it to the floor. They coughed as the dust from the ashes drifted up and filled their lungs. Waving away the dust Yugi reached into the cupboard and picked out the food they would need and dropped it into one of the sacks Isabelle had picked up off the streets on their way over here. (would there still be food or would it be taken as well? Or burned?)

"Yugi, shouldn't we see if there are some blankets we can take with us? And can we bury mama and papa and Jonouchi and Charlie?"

Yugi gazed down at his little sister.

_I want to bury them just as much as you Isabelle but there isn't any time. More of those men in black might come. They may have left now but they might come back to see if there are any survivors. _Yugi thought to himself_._

Silently he shook his head as a tears slipped down his cheeks.

She sobbed quietly as they left their ancestral home. She clutched harder at his hand as they left the ruins of the city. The once proud city the Motou family had ruled for generations now lay in ruins crumbled and destroyed, waiting for time to bury the horrors which had taken place there. In time, no one would remember the family that lived and ruled there. It would lay forgotten along with the rest of the people who had once lived there.

Time, like with everything, would bury this tragic event.

Someone wanted their family dead. Why, Yugi didn't know, but their wish was fulfilled. Most of Yugi's family was now dead; Yugi and Isabelle were nothing but shadows of their old lives.

This ordeal would cast a darkened stain on both their souls. Hopefully, Isabelle, being as young as she is, wouldn't remember this and she wouldn't have a shadow on her soul forever like Yugi would. Isabelle is too sweet to have thoughts of revenge, she does not have a need for savage blood lust like Yugi does. These things, these thoughts are what leave a stain on people's souls.

_Hopefully she will forget what it was like to be held in our mother's arms as she willed away our nightmares. She won't remember what it was like to hear Jonouchi laughing at our childish antics. She won't remember father telling Charles to not act like a pig at the dinner table. Hopefully she won't remember what it was like when I would play dress up with her. _

_I will leave her with our Aunt and Uncle. I will find out who ordered the attack. It was too organized to be bandits, and bandits aren't brave enough to attack an entire city. No, these men were too skilled to be bandits. I will find out who and why. _

_No matter the cost. I will have my revenge. I will make them pay for what they did._

Together hand in hand with nothing but the clothes and sacks on their backs, soot on their faces and blood staining their once proud and noble clothes they walked out of the ruins of the city. There was a long and tiring journey ahead of them. One that seemed like it would never end.


	5. Part One Evolution Chapter 4

Yugi would have liked to set off right away but Isabelle insisted on checking the stables to see if there were any horses and carriages left. He had told her there weren't going to be any left and if by some miracle there were, who would drive them?

But all she would say was "It doesn't hurt to check, Yugi, and you will drive them of course."

He snorted. _Yeah right, I'll drive something I have never driven before and I'll know how to attach the horses to this carriage that magically survived. Yeah, right. Why can't she just listen to me and give up so we can leave? I don't like it here. I feel like I'm being watched._

Yugi had, had this uneasy feeling of being watched for a long time now. But every time he looked around the feeling would go away and his eyes just saw the remains of the city. **E**very time Yugi continued walking it would come back.

_It's just the aftershock of what happened, that's all. __**N**__othing to worry about. I'm just scared that the men in black might come and attack us again, that's __**it**__. There is nothing here that can harm me except my own paranoid mind. I have to be strong, strong for Isabelle._

When the two of them got to the stables, there was, as Yugi had said nothing left.

_I told her. But does she listen to me? No. We could have saved a lot of time if she just listened to me and we could have already been on our merry way to Oxford. But instead we waste__**d**__ precious time looking for things that don't exist._

The horses had either run away in fright from the commotion and destruction the men in black had made or were laying on the dirt and hay dead, blood pooling under them leaking from the wounds that had been inflicted.

_Ugh. Gross. Isabelle, cover her eyes. She's too young and innocent to see dead animals._

As for the carriages, well there wasn't even enough left of them to even call them that. Only the ashes on the stone floor, the only remains of what had once stood there, were the only evidence that the carriages even excised. Isabelle looked so broken and dejected at the sight.

_I must admit, I too was saddened by this revelation as well. The journey would have been a lot faster and easier with horses and a carriage, without them it would be long and painful. The bruises on Isabelle's neck are already making it hard for her to talk, eat, swallow and breathe, and the pain in my back and my throbbing head would make it hard for me. Thankfully Oxford was only a week away and maybe it's a good thing that the horses and carriages aren't here. It's not like I would know how to use them._

"Cheer up Isabelle. Just think of it as an adventure. Where we are the heroes, off on our own, walking off into the sunset just like they do in the stories, like the ones that mother used to tell us." She turned to look at Yugi, brown hair blowing lightly in the breeze.

"Yeah, we are on an adventure. That's what this is, right Yugi? Just an adventure." she smiled and he smiled back at her.

_If only it were an adventure._ Thought Yugi to himself sadly, trying not to show the emotion to Isabelle his sweet little sister.

And so hand in hand the two of them set off on their adventure.

* * *

Adventures, Yugi soon found, were hard and not as easy as they make it out to be in the stories.

They didn't travel as fast as Yugi had wanted to travel and they didn't have much water or food.

Yugi had hoped that it would take at least a week to reach Oxford, but he forgot all the hills that they had to climb, how they were both injured and how cold it gets at night.

"Yugi, I'm hungry. I'm cold, I'm wet, and I'm hungry. Its been 3 days already! How many more days **to go**? I'm cold, I'm wet, I'm hungry and my throat hurts." Isabelle whined at him.

"I know you are Isabelle and so am I, I feel just the same as you do. In a couple of days we will be at the gates of Oxford and then we will go to Tea's manor and dine on roasted duck."

"And bread and water and milk and ham and cheese and pies and truffles and..."

Again Yugi **felt eyes boring holes into his skin and** turned around only to be met with the lonely deserted hills of England's beautiful landscape.

"Yugi, Yugi, BROTHER?"

Yugi looked at Isabelle's face a mixture of confusion, worry, and anger contorted her beautiful childlike features. It was kind of amusing. **S**he looked positively scary with that look yet so comical Yugi almost wanted to laugh at her. But instead of laughing he just stopped walking altogether and leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"Do you have the feeling that someone or something is watching us?"

"No, I don't, do you? I feel lonely. I don't think anything's out there, Yugi. Let's keep going. I don't like being alone and I'm dirty. The faster we get to Oxford the faster I can get a nice bath and a new dress. I mean look at my dress it's ruined and my hair is a disgrace."

Yugi looked down at her.

_Trust Isabelle to focus on the state of her hair and clothes more than anything else. I don't think she even really remembers what happened back at Exeter. I think it's just becoming a faded blur to her. Her nightmares are getting less and less frequent. That is a good thing but at the same time it saddens me. Would she forget about me when I leave just as easily as she forgot about mother, Charles, Jonouchi and father?_

These thoughts scared Yugi so he tried to think about them as little as possible. But they still plagued his thoughts and dreams.

"Your right, I'm just being paranoid." She just looked back at him before smiling and grabbing his hand and pulling him off along the road to Oxford.

_Our food is slowly decreasing. It's been six days out on the open road. My paranoid feelings only increasing as time went on. On the seventh day we ran out of food and water._

Finally, when Yugi feared that they wouldn't make it to Oxford before they died of starvation, the two of them saw the cities gates and the guards who stood silently watching over the peasants who came and went out of the city.

They saw the little market stalls set outside of the city drawing in weary travelers to buy their goods. The food they sold looked appetizing and Yugi was tempted to buy some of it. If only he had some money to buy it with.

They stood there looking at it all, like to orphans over awed by the city so different from their own. Isabelle had started jumping up and down for joy chattering away to Yugi about all the delightful food they would be served asking what their Aunt and Uncle were like.

But truthfully Yugi did not know what they were like, for Yugi was rude and arrogant back then and didn't bother getting to know them, he had just hid in the room that he was given. Yugi was like that to everyone he meet, even to his own family, besides Isabelle that is.

_How I wish I could go back in time and change all that, change how I acted to them to everyone. But I can't so instead I will start now. I might not be able to change the past but I can change the path my future takes._

With that thought in mind they started down the path coming closer to the guards standing ominously next to the gate.

"Halt! **W**hat is your business here in Oxford, peasant?" A guard said stiffly as he roughly pushed Yugi back. Yugi felt Isabelle stiffen at his side,

_Probably getting ready to shout at him_.

Yugi thought, but before she could start her screeching, he put a hand on her shoulder and lightly squeezed showing her that he would handle this.

"I am no peasant, sir. My name is Yugi Motou and this is my sister Isabelle Motou. We come from the noble family that rules Exeter. **W**e are not peasants, sir, despite our look. We have travelled long and hard and wish to speak with Tea Kaiba and Seto Kaiba. So let us pass, or face their furry." Yugi spoke all of this with pure confidence, confidence that the guard would do as he asked without question.

But instead of just letting them pass through the gates, his eyes went wide and his spear trembled slightly. He leaned down and whispered in Yugi's ear so that no one, not even Isabelle could hear; only Yugi could hear him.

"I will let you in but be wary on who you give your name to. You are a wanted criminal. If you're found you'll be taken for execution and any man, women or child who houses Yugi of the Motou family will suffer the same fate. But you are young and you shouldn't suffer for the crimes your elders have committed, I will take you myself to see Lady Tea and Lord Seto. But pray that they do not wish you dead."

_What?_

Before Yugi could utter a single word the guard spun on his heel and began a brisk walk towards the center of the city and through the gates. The other soldiers on duty didn't even give them a second glance.

They went through the dark alleyways of the city to avoid detection. The guard had on the way given Yugi a cloak to put over his head to hide his face. They past beggars and merchants, stepping in mud and puddles and other things that a better left un-mentioned.

When Yugi was about to ask the guard if he was lost they arrived at a very decorative door belonging to a very fancy manor. Which just so happens to belong to his very rich Aunt and Uncle, who also were the rulers of this city appointed by the King himself.

_Great, we're here. Now I can find out what the hell is going on. What did the guard mean when he said that we were criminals, or rather I? _Yugi thought to himself.

The guard knocked on the door with his knuckles three times. He then turned to face Yugi.

"You're on your own now let's hopes they decide to take pity on you, Yugi Motou, and don't decide they want to kill you. I must leave. **G**ood luck to you, and your sister. Good day sir." And with that he left walking down the main street back towards the gates.

A couple of minutes later the door sharply opened to reveal a very skinny woman with brown chestnut hair and brown eyes with the face of a goat. Need I say more?

"Whad'ya wan'? She questioned sharply.

"We are here to speak with Lord Seto Kaiba and Lady Tea Kaiba. We are messengers and are here bearing urgent news that can't wait." Yugi squeezed Isabelle's shoulder silently telling her to **keep quiet**.

_I have officially decided to take the guards advice and not give my name to people. Am I not just the smartest, most charming guy? Besides I really do not want some lowly beggar to rat me out for a few gold coins. This lady looked like she would rat us out without a second thought. Thank God that the guard we talked to took pity on us._

The lady stared at the two children long and hard, when Yugi was about to just push her aside and go inside, she finally nodded in her sharp manner, before stepping aside and letting the two of them in. Yugi nodded gratefully to her as they passed the threshold entering the dimly lit hallway of the manor.

The walls were the color of a deep pine, with mahogany trim, and dark wood floors.

"Righ' thi' way laddy" she said before briskly walking down the hallway and entering a small library like room with the same coloring as the hallway and high stiff backed black leather chairs.

"They' be here in a minuet jus' le' me ge' them for ya."

She turned sharply before briskly walking away out into the hall. Yugi could hear her heels going up the stairs.

Yugi felt Isabelle grab his hand and squeeze it tightly in fear; Yugi gave a small comforting squeeze in reply, hoping to take away all of her fears. He felt some of her fear ebb away, although not all of it left her and she was still on edge. Like a cornered cat.

"I'm scared Yugi. What did that man mean by saying that we are criminals. We are not criminals are we? What's going to happen to us?"

"I don't know, Isabelle. I don't know." He answered truthfully.

Yugi picked Isabelle up and sat her on the chair next to the one he was currently occupying.

After a while they could hear multiple footsteps descending down the stairs before two people entered the room and the **goat-faced** lady shut the door. Slowly, Yugi lowered the cloak from his head so that they could see his face, when their Aunt and Uncle got a look at Yugi, he saw recognition flash through their eyes but as they looked at Isabelle, confusion lingered in their gaze before they once again looked at Yugi.

For a long time no one moved. They stayed still eyeing each other, **all frozen to the spot**. The air was filled with tension before his Aunt broke down and fell to the floor tears streaming down her checks.

"Oh, thank God!" She wailed.

Even their Uncle so devoid of emotion had misty eyes. Yugi didn't cry though. He knew why they cried not because he was alive, but because, like Isabelle, when they saw Yugi they obviously thought that the rest of their family were alive. Slowly, Yugi shook his head before standing up.

"Don't get your hopes up." He said softly.

Aunt Tea stopped her sobbing to look at him curiously, though tears still ran down her cheeks. Yugi had the whole rooms attention focused solely on him. They all stared at him wondering what he was talking about. Yugi waited a bit before going on.

"Isabelle and I are the only survivors."

Aunt Tea broke down, sobs wracking her petite frame, she was no longer the strong cold-hearted women that Yugi had feared when he was a little child, now she was nothing more than a little girl trapped in her worst nightmare and never would she be able to get out of it.

Yugi's uncle walked over to her and rubbed her back as she cried. He looked up at Yugi sadness etched in his gaze. It brought out all those raw emotions Yugi had thought he had gotten over. Yugi bent his head down and clasped his hands in his lap as Isabelle clung to his arm.

"So the attack on Exeter wasn't just a rumour. They said that there were no survivors. It's a good thing for you Yugi. They think your dead. It will be easier for you to hide among the streets. Just don't use your full name."

"Wait. What do you mean it will be easier for me in the streets you're kicking us out? You're not going to help us? YOU ARE OUR UNCLE FOR GODS SAKE! BE MERCIFUL FOR ONCE IN YOU LIFE! OUR PARENTS WERE JUST MURDERED AND YOU ARE KICKING US OUT?" Yugi screamed at his uncle, rage consuming him once again.

Isabelle cowered beside Yugi, clinging to his arm, sobbing against his side. Yugi gently wrapped his free arm around her, rubbing her back gently trying to calm her down slightly.

"Yes. I'm so sorry but we can't keep you. Wait." He said looking at Isabelle once more confusedly. "What do you mean our uncle?"

"Exactly what I said, this is my little sister, Isabelle. She was going to be introduced to you next week." Yugi informed him coldly.

Tea winced at the coldness in her nephew's voice and gaze.

Seto looked tired and weary, **seeming years** older than he really was. Yugi's Aunt, hearing the news that she had a niece seemed to light up like the sun and rushed over to Isabelle pulling her up into a bone crushing hug murmuring things like 'you poor dear;'and so on. Yugi and his uncle on the other hand resumed their glaring match.

Yugi didn't know who was winning when his Aunt brought the attention to herself by joining into the previous conversation Yugi and Uncle Seto were having.

"Yugi, people know your face. You and your parents have visited so many different cities in the past 30 years, and you accompanied them. With all the visitors we get, someone is bound to recognize you. We don't want to, but you're in more danger here, you put all of us in danger. Do you want what has happened in Exeter to happen here?"

"Of course not, how could you think such a thing!" Seto said outraged. "I don't want to send you away Yugi, believe me, but I have to. It's better that way. But this little dear, she hasn't been to any cities if I haven't heard of her. She can pretend to be our daughter. What's her name?"

"Isabelle." Yugi said frostily.

"That's a beautiful name. My Aunt was named that, did you know that? Probably not but now you do." Tea said happily.

"So what am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to go?"

"Well the best place for you to go would be to London. I mean, you could find work there and it's such a big city nobody would look twice at you. That's the best place they wouldn't expect you to go, if they knew you were alive that is." Aunt Tea said distractedly as she ran her fingers through Isabelle's dirty hair, trying in vain to get the knots out.

"Yes, go to the busiest city so if they somehow find out you are alive they most likely wouldn't look for you in London. I'm sure you could find work there." Seto said

"We will give you food for the journey, but that's all we can spare. The sooner you leave the better. Less people will notice you leaving now. If the guards stop you, say you're our messenger going to Winchester." Aunt Tea said.

Stiffly, he nodded to her. Yugi turned to Isabelle and hugged her tightly. Tears were streaming down his cheeks onto her face.

"You'll come visit, right?" Isabelle asked.

Yugi looked into his Aunts eyes but she refused to meet his gaze then to his. He gazed at his Uncle, but he too would not meet Yugi's gaze** either**. Yugi knew the answer then and there. He knew it before, but now it was confirmed.

Never would Yugi be able to see her. Yugi would be some poor beggar, the thing that he despised the most and Isabelle, well she would still be a rich noble women like her mother and Aunt.

She would grow up to be a beautiful aristocrat with all the boys tripping over themselves in their attempts to woo her and Yugi would never be able to watch on in amusement, guiding her and sending away suitors that she did not fancy. She would not even be able to recognize him in the years to come, even if Yugi called out to her if he saw her passing by him on the streets of London. But she couldn't know that. It would break her heart. Yugi couldn't bring himself to lie to her but he couldn't tell her the truth either.

Yugi sighed heavily gazing down at his brown worn out leather shoes, then at her tiny face and her questioning gaze that she directed towards him. Yugi quickly looked away not being able to handle such an intense gaze from a five-year old girl.

_She may be smart but she's just a kid. She would forget about me once I leave so it won't matter what I tell her. My Aunt and Uncle sure won't help her remember me. More like help her forget about me._

Yugi looked back up at her, tugging her to his chest once more and hugging her close to his heart.

"Of course, I will come to visit you Isabelle. I'll visit you once I'm settled down in London. Don't hold your breath it will take a very long time, okay?"

_It tears my heart to lie to her. But it's for the best._

She smiled brightly at him with the innocence that only a five-year old could offer, and nodded her head before kissing him once on each cheek. Yugi gazed at her, memorizing every tiny detail that he could, committing it to memory so as to never forget.

He smiled, straining every muscle in his face to make it look genuine. She bought his strained fake smile and hugged him one more time and most likely the last before running off to Aunt Tea who was sitting at the other side of the room. He watched sadly, committing her hug and kiss and her happy laughter to memory, and he watched depressed as she was chatting away happily to their Aunt Tea.

She probably did not realize that Yugi was leaving tonight and that this was the last time that she would see her dear brother, Yugi then glanced over at his Uncle, Seto.

_She doesn't realize that I'm leaving tonight. _Glancing at his quickly at his uncle. S_cratch that. I'm leaving now. _


	6. Part One Evolution Chapter 5

**Like to thank my Beta phantomworks**

* * *

Steady, steady. Just a bit closer and… sixteen year old Atemu Sennen let loose his arrow, hitting his prey, a young deer, straight in the chest. Beside him his elder Akunumkanon let loose his grey falcon tipped arrow hitting the deer in the head.

Atemu looked over at Akunumkanon. "Why are we hunting this way? It's pointless. We can do it much quicker our way. Why do you consistently try to make us do things the human way?" He sneered the word human with venom.

Akunumkanon looked over at the young male, sadness in his gaze and disappointment radiating from him.

"Why do you hate humans so much, Atemu? There is nothing wrong with humans. Atemu, if you find humans so disgusting then you must find your whole pack disgusting. For after all, we are like them in more ways than one."

"You speak nonsense, Akunumkanon. Your words hold no meaning or sway over me. Humans are vermin and forever will be, they kill, plunder and torture their own kind. They kill us for sport. Why should I sympathize with those barbaric things that dare say they are civilized?" Atemu snarled in anger.

"Oh Atemu, how young you truly are. We do the same things that they do Atemu; we kill, hunt and plunder from each other. We have families as well as they do, they have friends just like us and like us they have enemies. They are a little different from us but they are also the same as us."

"They kill us for fun. We don't kill them for fun. We don't go near them yet they kill us without a second thought just like…Just like mother and brother. How can I not hate them? For what reason do I have to like them?" he whispered brokenly.

Atemu once again turned to face those calm and patient eyes, which were once more gazing at him, giving the young youthful male his full undivided attention. Slowly Akunumkanon nodded.

"Yes. They did, and they do, but we have killed many of their numbers too. But they unlike us, fear our people and fear makes a person do irrational and stupid things that they later regret. Do you not agree?"

The younger shook his head in confusion, trying to sort out the jumbled thoughts which were now running rampant in his head.

"That's no excuse. I hate them and every one of their kind. They have no reason to fear us Akunumkanon and you know it. You are just making excuses for those vermin." Atemu said, venom and hatred lacing his every word.

Akunumkanon looked over at Atemu with sadness in his voice as he replied to his student's hateful words. "Don't give way to rage Atemu. Don't become like Bakura has. Or do you wish to join Bakura and the other Lone Wolves?"

"No. Bakura is a disgrace as well as the Lone Wolves! But they are humans, Akunumkanon. They have killed mother and my dear little brother. They betrayed us." He spoke quietly now, rage no longer burning inside of him. He was left empty clinging to the statement 'they're humans' like a child would to their blanket in the dark hours of the night.

"I don't want to become like Bakura, Akunumkanon. I hate him almost as much, if not more than I hate the humans."

"Do you then." He said "hate Joey? Do you then hate Tristan and our pack?"

"No, I love them, they are our family; we take care of each other."

"But most of our pack used to be humans. Joey was a human. You, me and most of the ones that follow Bakura and Bakura himself are the only ones left of the ancient race. But we are also human, Atemu. Do we not take on human forms, as we are now? We use our human forms for speech. Our human forms has granted us the ability of speech in our normal forms. Remember, to hate a human is also to hate yourself as well as me and your pack. Remember Atemu, humans were once our friends. They may have forgotten that, but we have not. Don't give in to unneeded anger, my child."

"But we are also wolves, Akunumkanon. We are more wolves than human. Even those that used to be human no longer are. They are now one of us."

But he paused, looking down at the marks he had been making in the dirt with his feet then to the bow he held in his 'human' hands. He looked up at Akunumkanon's face.

He was so old and so wise, so patient in teaching the young ones and elders alike about what it was like before, when the wolves still were the loyal guardians of the humans' souls. When wolves and humans ran together as one, as equals. He stayed silent for a long while, thinking about everything the elder had told him. About what he had been taught all of his life and then he thought of Bakura and the Lone Wolves.

"You're right, Akunumkanon" Atemu spoke quietly. Breaking the peaceful silence that had fallen between the two of them, Atemu looked over at his companion.

"This rage is unneeded and is childish. We once ran beside the humans and were their guardians. We were once the protectors of the humans. We once ran beside them as their equals, and in return they taught us and shielded us from the other creatures. We were once friends and shared a bond greater than mother and child. This rage is only a rage at nothing, hating them will bring us no peace, it will only bring upon us war again. You are right. If only we all could see the truth in your words. Violence is not the answer. Fight only when you are attacked but not before."

The elder smiled at the young man gently patting him on the shoulder before once more they resumed their lesson on how to hunt like a human.

"Spoken like a true warrior." Was all that his elder decided to say to him in response to his little speech.

_'This doesn't mean I will forgive them. I don't hate Joseph or our pack. Just because we are like them in some ways does not mean we have to love them. They have my respect but that is all. Once we get back to camp, I'm getting out of this stupid human form. Humans have my respect I'll admit but I'm not going to cuddle up next to one.' _Atemu thought to himself.


	7. Part One Evolution Chapter 6

**Its sad that with over 100 views for this story not one person reviewd :(**

**Once again I would like to than phantomworks for the wonderful editing.**

* * *

He led Yugi through the hallway to the kitchen. Yugi looked out the window. It was late probably around supper time. Yugi sighed. He just wanted to sleep but instead he had to leave.

Once he was outside of the city, he would be allowed to get some shut eye. It won't be as comfortable as it would be if Yugi was sleeping in the manor but at least it was sleep. The servants were finishing up the preparations for dinner. Oh the food looked so good and he was so hungry. Uncle Seto gruffly ordered them to pack Yugi food for a week.

_That's good I'm getting food for-WAIT! For a week it would take longer to get to London than a week the crazy old coot. _Yugi looked at him like he was crazy, _which by the way he is. _Uncle Seto just grinned at him.

_Wow they really do hate me. That is harsh man, real harsh._

When the rucksack was full he shoved it into Yugi's arms before herding him out into the hallway and in front of the really pretty looking door. _They have a really nice door. It's nicer than our door was. Stop getting sidetracked. Focus!_

Then opening it and shoving Yugi out before grinning at him one last time.

"Be careful that the werewolves don't get to you." He said before slamming the door in his face.

_Now that was just plain rude. _Yugi thought. _Wait. Wow I've been saying a lot of wait's this evening, that's beside the point Yugi. Oh God, I'm talking to myself, again! Any way did he say werewolves?_ Yugi snorted. _Yeah. Right werewolves don't exist you crazy old bugger! _He mentally screamed.

So on and on, Yugi walked finally managing to find his way out of the maze of dark and dirty, not to mention dingy alleyways. It was pitch black by the time he reached the gates. Yugi shook his head.

_I might be slightly crazy but I'm not stupid. No way am I going out in the wilderness now. I'm way too tired and it's too dark to see the path anyway._

Yugi walked over to a bench next to the wall beside him and laid down on it. It was stone.

_This is going to be a very comfortable night. Not!_

Not to mention freezing cold, but it was better than nothing, right? So Yugi settled in for a very long and very uncomfortable night.

* * *

Yugi felt a hand on his shoulder so he brushed it away. A couple minutes later Yugi clued in that someone was whispering to him.

_What do ya wan'? Ugh leave me alone._

"Psst. Yugi, right? Wake up! Hurry up! Come on, man get up!" The voice said urgently.

"Wha d'you wan'?" He slurred still groggy and deprived of sleep.

"Yugi, hurry up before the guards wake up! Come on! You will be executed if they see you. Word got out that you survived the attack on Exeter. Please, wake up!"

Immediately, Yugi's eyes snapped open, gazing at the guard that had helped Isabelle and Yugi yesterday.

_What does he mean, word got out? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Why does he refuse to speak sense?_

Yugi narrowed his eyes at him. The man in front of him looked conflicted; he looked both frantic and pained about something.

_Is he really helping me or is he setting up a trap, for who else knew that I survived the attack?_

"How do I know that you weren't the one that told everyone that me and Isabelle survived the attack? I don't. So why should I trust you?" Yugi asked quietly.

"Look, I said that people know that you survived the attack. Not Isabelle. I know that you don't trust me, I haven't given you reason to, but I haven't given you reason not to either. Please, come with me. Let's go before everyone else is up. I think that Lady Kaiba told them. I don't want to see you executed for something that you didn't do. Please, just trust me."

_Aunt Tea. I didn't think she hated me that much. Seto might but… I cant believe she told them!_

Yugi looked at him warily, not willing to believe him right away. He was very cautious and could not help but wonder what this man's real motives were. Was he going to knock him unconscious and cash him in for a reward as soon as his back was turned?

_He really does look like he wants to help me but why? Well, if I am still alive by tomorrow or tonight, I will ask him._

Seeing no other choice, Yugi followed him out of the gates, when Yugi noticed that he wasn't wearing his guards' uniform.

_Interesting._

"Why aren't you dressed in your uniform soldier?" Yugi asked.

He turned back to look at Yugi, then he slowed his pace so that he was walking in step beside Yugi.

_Wow, I never noticed how young he was. He looks around eighteen maybe older._

"Because I'm going to go with you, wherever it is your going. If you'll have me that is." He spoke quietly mumbling almost.

_Why would he want to travel with me? I'm a wimp._

"Why?"

"Well, because I know how to fight and I can teach you how to fight, how to protect yourself. I don't think it's right that they are going to kill you for something that your parents did. I think it's wrong and so I'm going to help you, if you'll allow it that is. You need to know how to fight. You also need to be ready to take a life if it…"

Before the young soldier could finish his sentence, Yugi had cut him off.

"I've already taken a life, two in fact actually. I don't enjoy it like some do, but if it comes to that then I am prepared to take a life. By the way what is your name, and… I accept your offer."

The guard flashed Yugi a white toothed grin. "The name's Malik, Malik Ishtar. I look forward to traveling with you, Yugi Motou."

"Me too, Malik, me too."

* * *

For the remainder of the day they walked in silence. Not an awkward or uncomfortable silence but a calm companionable silence. So Yugi took advantage of the peaceful atmosphere sorting out his thoughts before he drowned in them.

"Malik." Yugi said, stopping in the middle of the trail. He glanced at Yugi before he kept walking at his brisk pace.

_Damn him and his super long legs. I always have to run to keep pace with him. _

Yugi once more called his name as he hopped alongside Malik. Again Malik briefly looked, giving Yugi's hopping a weird look before shaking his head and resuming his pace.

"MALIK!" Yugi shouted. Startled by his outburst Malik turned around.

"What?" he said aggravated already. Mentally, Yugi laughed.

_Malik is always so calm and strict it is so much fun to try and get him mad. Hee –hee_._ Okay enough laughing back to the matter at hand._

"Can we stop for a minute?" Yugi asked, completely ignoring Malik's annoyed look that he gave Yugi before once again Malik masked it.

_Stupid soldiers and their stupid training of not showing their stupid emotions. Wow, I really like saying stupid. Ugh, you're an idiot. Stop talking to yourself Yugi! You're thinking not talking idiot. Why am I thinking to myself?_

"Why?" Malik asked raising one of his eyebrows.

"Oh, you know, I just wanted to stop and enjoy the same scenery I saw twenty minutes ago. Are you sure you're not lost? Although, I don't know how that's possible seeing as we're following a path that leads to where ever it was we were trying to head."

"Ugh." Malik stopped, taking a deep breath before letting loose a long suffering sigh. "We are going in the right direction."

"Really?" Yugi asked with fake interest before irritably snapping, "Because I swear that I saw that tree three times already in the past five minutes."

Malik looked at Yugi with another one of his raised eyebrows. Yugi looked back at him innocently raising both of his eyebrows in return.

"Yugi. For the last time we are not lost."

"Really, that is surprising. Could have fooled me. So Mister all-knowing, if we are not lost then why do I keep seeing the same tree three times in a row?"

"You probably saw that tree three times because there is more than one of that kind of tree." He said this to Yugi as if he were explaining this to a very small child.

Yugi huffed in annoyance at his tone. "I know that Malik. Jeez, how stupid do you think I am?"

He glanced at Yugi with another raised eyebrow silently implying that he thought he was three rather than sixteen.

"Now. What's the real reason we're stopping? Because as much as I love discussing your stupidity we have to get to London. Remember?"

"Yeah, yeah. Got it zip mouth, shut up, follow captain obvious and never complain and I'm not stupid either..."

He looked at Yugi beyond a bit peeved. And that is when the foot tapping started.

_Damn he crossed his arms over his chest. Great. _Yugi thought mentally rolling his eyes. _Here comes the interrogation. _

"I never said you were, now stop acting like a drama queen. Now what was the real-?" He put emphasis on the word real. "Reason you called us to a stop, wasting valuable time? And what was with the hopping." He said exasperated.

"For exercise!" Yugi exclaimed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, giving him a cheeky grin.

Malik raised both eyebrows this time before giving Yugi a look that clearly stated that he thought he was crazy. _I must be special. Usually it's only one eyebrow. _

"Right. Because walking all the way from Exeter to Oxford to London isn't exercise at all." Malik said rolling his eyes.

Cheerfully Yugi replied, "Nope, not at all."

After a few minutes of silence standing under his perturbed gaze did he tell him.

"Ihavearockinmyshoe." Yugi mumbled inaudibly.

"I'm sorry what did you say I couldn't here you. Speak louder."

He leaned his head closer expecting Yugi to answer him. Yugi sighed and huffed in annoyance at the same time.

"I Have A Rock In My Shoe." Yugi ground out.

Malik blinked opened his mouth than blinked again. He repeated the process several times doing a wonderful imitation of a fish.

Taking advantage of the silence Mr. Fish-Man was giving Yugi and how they were no longer walking, Yugi sat down in the dirt and took off his shoe and tipped it upside down, only to have nothing come out. Yugi glared at the shoe before shaking it roughly. Hearing the rattling of the rock but not seeing it come out, he growled.

_I know, it's weird to growl at a shoe and a rock. But I can't help it! Ugh, why am I talking to myself…thinking…thinking._

Finally, Yugi gave up with his horrendous intimidation attempts on the rock and shoe and just did the sensible boring thing. Yugi reached into the shoe and pulled out the rock before putting on his shoe and proceeding to walk, passing Mr. Fish man.

Noticing that Fish Man wasn't beside him, Yugi turned and looked behind him. There Malik was standing there looking like he was second guessing his choice of travel companions. Not that he had a choice.

_I kind of feel bad for the guy. I mean he got stuck with a slightly insane teenager and out of all those crazy teenagers, he got stuck with me, the midget, lucky him._

"Well, are you coming or not?" Yugi asked, taking a page out of Malik's books and raising his eyebrows at him.

As Yugi's words punctured his stupefied brain Malik snapped back to reality, shaking himself before resuming his brisk pace.

* * *

So for the next few days Malik trained Yugi on self-defense, how to use weapons and how to fight without weapons. In return, Yugi taught him all the things he wished to know, how to read and write.

They had many pleasant chats too. Over the days that they travelled they became closer. No longer were they strangers looking for a companion to share the lonely nights on the road with. Now they were friends talking away in the wee hours of the night. It felt nice for Yugi to have a friend who understood him and didn't judge him for the actions that he took back at Exeter.

On the fourth night, Yugi finally got the courage to ask what he meant by saying 'I don't think you should suffer for what your parents did'. It had been nagging at the back of Yugi's mind but he kept putting it off.

Now, Yugi wanted to know what Malik had meant by that. The curiosity was burning deep within him and Yugi wanted to ease the raging inferno. He desperately wanted to know what Malik knew about the attack on Exeter and tonight was the night that Yugi was finally going to ask and hopefully get his questions answered.

They were currently lying on their bedrolls situated near the fire. Yugi looked over at Malik.

For the first time he took in Malik's appearance, his angular face and sharp jaw, round nose, his shoulder length blond hair, tied back with a leather string. Bright lavender eyes held so much wisdom and knowledge that he willingly shared with Yugi. Knowledge that Yugi in turn was always willing to listen to.

Yugi looked back into the fire thinking about what he was going to say to him. Without really thinking about what he was doing, Yugi tossed some more wood on the fire when he saw that it was going to burn out soon. Yugi once again looked back at Malik.

"Malik… what do you know about the attack on Exeter?"

Malik looked over at him, surprise etched on his features before it was replaced with a calm serene look.

"What do you wish to know Yugi?"

"Everything" He breathed, staring at him wide eyes.

How Yugi longed for this type of information. How he wanted to know everything. Malik must have noticed Yugi's childlike expression, for he chuckled at him before it was replaced by a serious expression.

"I don't know much, and remember my information isn't accurate. It's just based on rumors that have been going around on the streets and in the guard houses." He paused, thinking on where to start. "Well… no one really knows why Exeter was attacked. Scratch that. No one knows what the reason for it was. Ugh, okay, how about this? People say that the Motou family were criminals and were planning treason. So the king told his second in command to take care of it."

Yugi was just about to interrupt and ask for this man's name but Malik beat him to it and had cut him off before he had a chance to ask.

"His name is Akefia, I think. So I guess that destroying Exeter was his way of taking care of it. People are split between believing it and not. I don't believe it. That's why I'm helping you. Because I don't believe it and even if it was true I don't think that the child should be punished for the actions of his parents, or a whole city in this case."

Yugi stared at him, trying to process all of this new information that he had been presented with. All of it made his head spin with denial and even more questions. He desperately wanted to deny it and say it was all a joke. Wanted to see Malik laugh and his family randomly appear and laugh along with him.

But Yugi knew it was all true and that this was no joke that was being played upon him.

"So basically, Exeter, my city, the city my parents ruled, was attacked because my parents were planning treason against the crown." Yugi said incredulously.

He looked at Yugi sympathetically, "In a nut shell yes."

"And this man…what was his name?"

"Akefia"

"Right so this man Akeifia is the one who planned the attack."

"Yes."

"Where can I find the bastard?" Yugi stated raucously.

Malik stared at him for a long time before replying sullenly. "I don't know, Yugi. If I did know, I would tell you faster than you can say rabbit hole."

"Right, okay, thank you, I guess. That ... That... That is fine, it is perfectly okay. I will find him any way and will not stop nor rest until the day I die. And I will get my revenge." Yugi said with forced calm.

"Well," He said looking over at Malik. "I don't know about you, but I'm beat. I think I'm going to get some shut-eye."

Malik looked over at him with a knowing look in his eye. He knew that Yugi wasn't tired. He knew that Yugi just wanted to think over everything he had just been told. It might not have been much information but it was still overwhelming finding out that your parents were accused of treason.

Yugi snuggled down under the thin blanket before turning his back on Malik, praying to have one night of peaceful oblivion. Hopefully his prayers would be answered.

* * *

_'I seem to be flying. What an odd sensation it is to fly. To feel weightless, all your problems left behind. How odd. Not normal some would say, but I can't help but ignore the insanity of this whole ordeal because really, it's not all that insane to be flying higher than the clouds. I'm moving through the sky, clouds passing me by, I'm moving but I don't know where. _

_'Where am I going?' I ask, a voice answers me and says 'who cares?' _

_I'm falling now. The ground is rushing up to meet me, shadows to my left; a table with food fit for a king behind me. Instead of going splat on the ground like I expected, my descent to the ground is slowed and the ground is no longer rushing up to meet me. _

_I land lightly on my feet. I start walking ahead, flames before me. I feel no heat radiating from them, burning my face like it should. As I walk closer, the flames part before me creating a path just for me to walk down. Now I see an ocean, sparkling in the night sky as the clouds above me dance in playful patterns. The eagles soar peacefully playing with the butterflies._

_I turn my head to look in front of me and I am now gazing face to face with a man in a black cloak. He opens his mouth but no sound is produced, no words are formed. Blue mist pours out of his mouth and a snake follows out from behind the mist. I look into his eyes and I am now being sucked into his eyes, his endless eyes like little blue pools, but they are no longer eyes now. They have shifted form. They are dark pools and now they are tunnels. _

_I am spiralling down an unending tunnel. There is no light, no escape. I am in a tunnel and no matter how hard I try, I cannot get out. I am trapped, forever. I claw at the sides but to no avail.'_

* * *

Malik and Yugi got up early the next day. They made sure that the fire was completely out, before packing up their bedrolls and what little food that they had left. After their make shift camp was all packed up they once again resumed our traveling.

"Hey, Malik."

"What?"

"I tell you all about my family, but you never tell me about yours."

"Why do you care?" He sighed.

"Because you're my friend and I am curious."

"So, I'm your friend?"

"Yes."

"Oh. That's nice." He said distracted.

"Yes it is." Yugi huffed. "Now tell me about your family."

"You know you are really short."

Yugi sucked in a deep, calming breath. "Stop…avoiding…the…subject, Malik!"

"No, really, you are short. Aren't you the same age as me?"

"No, I am not! And I am not short!" Yugi nearly tore out his hair in frustration.

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not"

"Yes, you are."

"Stop avoiding the subject!"

Malik stared at Yugi out of the corner of his eyes before reluctantly telling Yugi what he so dearly wanted his friend to tell him.

"My mother was a prostitute and my father was a soldier who didn't know I was his son until I got put on guard duty with him."

"Oh… Well, that's pleasant. So who raised you, your mother?"

"No"

"Oh, then who raised you?"

"No one, I was raised in a whore house with my sister and older brother."

"Wow. For a guy who grew up with whores as role models you sure have good morals and stuff. Wow. I never would have thought that. Wow…" Yugi trailed off still wondering if Malik was pulling his leg.

He laughed, "Yes, I guess I do have good morals and stuff as you so eloquently put it."

* * *

After that day, Malik started talking more about his family and life and Yugi started opening up more about himself.

_It was pretty funny, hearing the stories Malik told of stealing bread and some of the women's stockings. Talking to Malik about my family is a lot easier than I originally thought it would be. Talking to him is helping me get over the aching hole in my chest and slowly as we talk more and more it seems to almost vanish._ Yugi thought, but Yugi knew it was still there and always would be, for nothing and no one could replace what he had lost.

They stopped around midday so Malik could train Yugi some more. Yugi was getting better over time. At first, Malik started training him without any weapons. After Yugi had mastered fighting without weapons they moved on to real blades.

_It's hard, I admit, and it hurt my pride to do so. It sucked being a noble and having a normal boy, who didn't share or even come close to the level of status I have, or rather had, and being bested by him was a real blow to my pride. _

"Malik."

"Uh-huh." He replied as he wrote in his journal.

_I never thought that he would have a diary. I made fun of him once. Let's just say it didn't end well for me and leave it at that. _

"I got a rock in my shoe."

"Uh-huh." He said still writing, he had heard Yugi complain about rocks in his shoe for so long Malik was no longer paying attention.

"Do you think I'm short?"

"Uh-huh."

"What colour is my hair."

"Uh-huh."

"Do you think you're ugly?"

"Uh-huh"

"Did you kiss a toad?"

"Uh-huh."

Yugi snickered to himself and continued asking him stupid questions like that for the rest of the night before getting bored and going to bed.


	8. Part One Evolution Chapter 7

**Like to thank phantomworks**

**Review please**

* * *

It had been a week since they left Oxford and at least two weeks since the attack on Exeter. Over that period of time, Yugi slowly started to notice that he was changing. Not physically. Physically Yugi was pretty much the same, spiky black hair with violet tips, wide amethyst eyes, short height and slightly muscular build, but he started to notice that his morals and thought processes were changing. For better or for worse, he didn't know yet.

Malik abruptly stopped in front of Yugi. He hesitantly turned to look at Yugi, he stared at him straight in the eyes as he spoke. Sadness reflected in Malik's eyes.

"Yugi. Once we get to London, you are on your own."

"What-?" Yugi began.

Malik merely held up his hand, stopping Yugi's flood of questions. A solemn look had fallen across his face.

"I have taught you all that I know, Yugi. Once we get to London, my duties take me to Nottingham. I won't be able to help you. If your travels ever take you there, I will be on gate duty. Don't hesitate to visit me should you ever arrive in Nottingham. After all you are my friend."

Yugi nodded saddened and shocked at this new revelation. He was sad at the loss of his companion. Yugi would miss him a lot. He had taught him a lot through the week they were traveling together.

_I don't know how I couldn't miss a man that I held so much respect for, a man who I considered my friend._

He walked Yugi to the gates of London city. He gave him a brief hug and handed Yugi one of his daggers telling him to stick it in his belt before Malik said goodbye for the last time and left Yugi all alone outside the gates of the city. Yugi watched his retreating form, travelling in the direction of Nottingham.

"Goodbye, Malik Ishtar." He whispered before swiftly turning around and slipping through the gates to begin his next adventure.


	9. Part Two Reconciliation Chapter 8

**Review;**

**once again would like to thank my editor phantomworks**

* * *

Quickly, he ran down the back streets of London, adrenaline pumping through his veins as icy fear gripped his heavily thudding heart as he listened to the fat baker scream curses at his retreating form and calling for the guards.

He had gotten good at running over the past few weeks. After Malik left, Yugi had become what he had always despised. A beggar, a street rat. Over the week, Yugi had found that, just like with Malik, he had a new respect for the low lives of society.

Well, the first thing Yugi had tried once arriving at London was to find a job, but no one wanted him.

So he had to find other means of survival.

Yugi got food by stealing. In the beginning it was something that used to make him cringe, but now stealing was like second nature to Yugi. If he wanted shelter Yugi would have to break into someone's house. Usually he would choose abandoned homes or buildings, but Yugi didn't like all the hassles that can come with breaking into people's homes, abandoned or not. So now Yugi mostly slept on a bench. Yugi only broke into houses if the weather was bad.

* * *

Currently, Yugi was running from the baker after stealing a loaf of bread. _I must say that I didn't learn all that I know and become the best from personal experience._

No, Yugi had made a deal with another street rat named Vivian. She taught him how to survive and in return Yugi taught her how to read. Unfortunately, she was taken by the guards after getting caught stealing. She was a nice girl. She didn't have many faults. The only thing that really bothered Yugi was her having a crush on him. Yugi liked her as a friend, nothing more and nothing less.

Vivian was a pretty looking girl with long charcoal colored hair and exotic hazel eyes. She had full lips set on a face with smooth porcelain colored skin. She had a skinny build due to lack of food and was taller than Yugi despite the lack of nutrition.

Yugi finally stopped running. Panting, he leaned on the wall behind him in exhaustion. He sucked in deep breaths, trying to calm his shaking limbs and slow his erratic breathing. Slowly, he lowered himself to the ground, trying to listen and find out if anyone had followed him. But all that he could hear was his heart thumping in his chest as if it was right beside the boys ears.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before slowly releasing it. He opened his eyes as he exhaled and took a vicious bite out of the very thing that caused the whole ordeal, a loaf of bread.

It tasted like heaven to Yugi. Yugi had been living off of stale bread and dirty water from puddles on the street. But what he was chewing happily now was bread, fresh bread straight from the baker's oven.

Yugi had been caught stealing the bread, though. But he managed to get away before the guards could catch him. Unfortunately, it had caused him to run around the city all day, causing him to be hungrier than he was when he first stole the bread. But to Yugi, he would run around the city all day, a million times if it meant he could have just one fresh loaf of bread.

When he finished the bread, he sat there staring at hands that had once held a delicious piece of bread, now empty, a frown upon his elegant aristocratic features. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, before heaving himself up and slinking down the alleyway, like some sort of alley cat, to begin his search for a decent place to spend the night. Not once did he look back. If he had he would have noticed the outline of a chubby man, at the back of the alleyway hiding in the shadows cast by the midday sun.

* * *

Yugi lay on a bench staring up at the twinkling stars in the night sky thinking of home. He missed his life back at Exeter. He missed his family, no matter how much he pretended to hate them.

But most of all he missed Isabelle. It felt like a giant gaping hole had been dug in his chest. He felt, for the first time in his life, lonely.

Everyone he knew and loved was gone, leaving him alone to face the horrors of the world, leaving him with only bitter thoughts and memories. He hated them but at the same time he loved them. It felt like something had been ripped out of his chest, something important.

Living life as a street rat was a hard and lonely life. You had to steal for food and drink street water. You didn't have a home, you were constantly being hunted down by the city guards and no one took pity on you. The people of the city just look down at you with disgust painted clearly on their features and their noses turned up at you.

_I used to treat street rats the same way, but now I have nothing but respect for these unfortunate souls. _

The rule of the street was, every man for himself. No one would help you, not even other street rats. Yugi had got lucky though, because an orphan by the name of Vivian had taken pity on him and taught Yugi the ropes of street life.

Vivian and Yugi had gotten close over the short period of time that they had been together, just like Malik and Yugi had. So it hurt all the more when she had been captured by the guards. He would never stop getting close to people because of that though. Yugi knew that if he never had friends, than he would never be him, a part of him would always be missing.

He sighed before turning on his side and closing his eyes and falling into a deep sleep filled with visions of bread, Vivian, Isabelle and Malik. Hoping desperately that Vivian would get away from the soldiers, maybe then he wouldn't feel so alone in this cold harsh world.


	10. Part Two Reconciliation Chapter 9

Yugi walked down the crowded street, following his prey as silently and gracefully as a cat. His prey stopped to look at the merchandise one of the stall men were selling. As soon as the man had his back to the street, Yugi rushed over, took his money purse and turned quickly down the nearest alley to look at his loot.

Not much more than a few coins, but enough for a piece of bread. Yugi walked to the end of the alley walking to the end that he knew joined on to the main street. From there he made his way over to the bakery.

He slowly opened the door. It was an old wooden door that creaked slightly. There were a few people lined up, buying some of the delicious smelling bread. He walked up to the counter to stan behind a tall woman with grey hair and a grey feather stuck in her blue hat. He couldn't help but snicker at her large lacy dress that was tackier than anything his mother had ever worn.

After a few minutes the women was served by the fat baker and she left the shop after giving her thanks. Slowly, Yugi walked up to the counter. He just came into eyelevel of the baker.

"What can I get for three gold coins?" said Yugi.

"Ya' can ge' two loaves o' me finest brea'." Replied the baker, giving a toothless grin to Yugi who was trying hard not to scowl at the stench from the man's breath.

_Honestly, doesn't this guy know about parsley or jeez some other herb? If I wasn't so desperate for food I would tell him. Honestly, he could fell a whole army with that stench._

"Fine I'll get two of your finest loaves, if you please."

The baker reached under the wooden counter and pulled out two loaves of bread placing them in a paper bag and handing it to Yugi as Yugi handed him the coins. He took them and unlocked a black box and placing the coins in before turning the key and putting it in a pocket on his apron.

Yugi hurriedly walked out of the bakers shop grossed out by the man's breath. _Maybe I'll give him a whole box of parsley for his birthday. _He thought amusedly.

Yugi wondered as he sat on a bench chewing the bread what he would do for the rest of the day. Maybe he would go annoy the guards. That was always a good way to pass the time.

So for the remainder of the day Yugi annoyed the guards and ran from them and other people he stole from. He also practiced what Malik had taught him. He thought and plotted of the different ways to he could get Vivian from the guards' 'evil' clutches.

Soon he was tired and didn't feel like doing anything else, it was just past dinner time. He made his way once more to the alley that he had been spending the last few nights in.

As he walked, he thought that his steps sounded louder in the deserted alley than they usually did. He slowly stopped walking and as he did the sound of his footsteps stopped. As he started again, it sounded too loud for him, so he sharply came to a halt, noticing that there was a sound of stumbling before all noise seized.

He stood there in the silence of the alley listening to his heavy breathing. Once again the footsteps started but this time Yugi wasn't moving. He turned around wondering who was following him. And came face to face with the baker he had stolen from and bought from over the past week.

The baker stopped a couple of paces in front of Yugi. He stared down his large nose at Yugi mulling over his thoughts before gruffly speaking.

"I've been watchin' you boy. I know tha' you're the one tha' stole from me. I also know, tha' you the one tha' bough' bread from me. You go' some nerve kid. I've been trakin' ya for days you aint easy to track ill admi' bu' I still found ya." He laughed.

"Yeah, so what do you want? You took all that time to track me so you must have a reason."

"Oh yes, I spen' a lo' o time trackin' you." The man scowled.

"Yeah, you already said that. So what's your reason? Why are you here?" Yugi said, impatiently tapping his foot on the dirty stone street.

"I be givin' ye a chance to pay me back for all tha' bread you stole from me."

"So you're giving me a job." Yugi asked sceptically.

"Ain' tha' wha' I said?"

"Well yeah but, why would you give me a job when I stole from you?" Yugi said, raising his eyebrows.

"To repay me." The baker replied highly annoyed. "You can live in thee shop an I'll feed ya an' I won' punish you for the bread ya stole. Working for me is punismen' enough eh. Deal."

He stared at the baker incredulously. He couldn't believe it. After weeks of searching for someone to give him a job. After weeks of being turned down and doors slammed in his face, the baker, the very man he stole the loaf of bread from earlier was offering him work, a way to repay the man for all of the bread that he had stolen from him.

The baker had said that he could live there too. He would be fed and sheltered. The baker had said that he wouldn't punish him for stealing the bread earlier.

He looked at the baker. He was wearing a white apron stained with flour and mixtures, tied tightly across his bulging stomach, to the tall white hat perched upon his plump balding head. With beetle black eyes and thick bushy eyebrows, with slim lips pulled tightly across his face in what appeared to be a friendly smile, but it looked more like a grimace.

He was a little wary of taking up the bakers offer. After all, why would he, the man that he stolen food from, be offering him a job?

_Still, it beats living on the streets, doesn't it? I mean, I would get food and drink and a shelter. All I have to do is work for the man. He doesn't look friendly, but it is better than the streets, and I did want a job, so this is my chance._

"All right." He said slowly. "I'll work for you."

The fat man nodded then turned on his heel and lumbered off in the direction of the bakery.

When they got to the door of the bakery, he turned to face Yugi and pointed a finger at him with a stern expression on him that suited him better than the smile.

"You'll do every thin' I say with ou' complaint go' it. Ya won' talk, you won' ask questions. Ya hear? All ya's do is bake. No mistake, no punishment. With mistake, come punishment go' it pretty boy?"

Mutely, Yugi nodded. He dare not say anything for fear of angering the man. He looked ferocious. He slowly repeated in his head the key points of the man's rant. _No talking, no questions, no complaining, no mistakes. _Slowly he followed the beefy man inside the shop.

It was a small shop with a long wooden counter that ended at the wall, behind the counter was a door leading to the next room.

_Probably where he makes the bread. _Yugi thought silently.

Yugi would have continued looking around, had he the chance, but before he could finish his assessment of the room, he was roughly grabbed at the back of the neck and thrown through a door he hadn't noticed and landed on a pile of flour sacks.

"You'll be stayin' here till I says ye can come out. Youse be punished for the bread la'er. Go' it?" the baker said gruffly.

Gone were the politeness, gone was the friendly face that had conned Yugi into working with the baker and were replaced by a mean, angry and bitter looking man who, unfortunately for Yugi, still appeared to be mad at the loss of his loaf of precious bread earlier last night.

Before Yugi could reply or run, the door was slammed shut. Yugi ran to the door and yanked it open, or would have if it hadn't been locked.

_Great, I'm stuck in a locked room. The baker hates me for the loaf of bread incident, and I got conned into working for him. This isn't going to turn out well._

Dejectedly, he turned around before lowering his tired limbs onto the sacks. He sighed. He looked around the room for means of escape. But found none, only the one door, no windows, and no cracks. Just the locked door and the flour sacks. It was going to be a rough night by the looks of those flour sacks.

All Yugi could do was try to sleep and see what would happen in the morning.


	11. Part Two Reconciliation Chapter 10

The door creaked open as the baker entered the room, shutting the door behind him. He looked down at the sleeping form of Yugi. The baker's nose scrunched up in disgust.

He hated the boy.

He stole from him and here the thief was under his own roof. He should turn the boy over to the guards, but he could have more fun with the boy this way.

He kicked Yugi sharply in the ribs, getting a startled yelp from the peacefully sleeping boy as he was jerked awake. Yugi raised his head to the baker clutching his side.

"Ya'll be workin' taday, an' ya be'er no' cause any trouble. Ya hear?" he said, giving Yugi another kick for good measure.

Yugi nodded. What else could he do?

The baker grabbed Yugi by the hair and pulled him through the bakery to the door behind the counter. The room they were now in was filled with ovens, mixtures, shelves filled with delicious smelling bread, pots and pans and many other things that were involved in the process of making bread.

The baker dragged him over to some of the mixture bowls. The man bent down and pulled out a large book. He dropped it onto the table; a resounding bang filled the silence of the shop.

"This 'ere is thee book tha'll tell ya how ta make thee bread. I want ya ta make twen'y o' each. Once yer finished with twen'y o' each I'll tell ya wha' ya can make next. Go' Ih'?"

"Yes sir." The boy said softly. He hated the man but was smart enough to know that calling the man 'sir' would make him happy.

The baker lumbered out the door and could be heard in the other room counting the money in the black box and getting everything ready before he opened up his shop.

* * *

Yugi rubbed his bruised side before taking a look at the recipe book. Obviously the man in the other room hadn't written this. The handwriting was neat and legible; the words spelt correctly on every page, unlike the man outside who couldn't even pronounce 'twenty' properly. Yugi began making some simple rye bread. Occasionally, as Yugi worked he would hear costumers come in and out of the shop exchanging hellos and goodbyes with the baker as he worked.

He had made a total of ten loaves of rye bread by the time lunch rolled around. The baker waddled into the room and placed a plate of bread and a couple slices of cheese on the table Yugi was working at.

"Tha' is yer lunch. No complain's, you do a be'er job tomorer an' ya migh' ge' more."

The boy sighed before picking up his measly lunch and ate it as he worked. The rest of the day continued in the same manner, Yugi would work listening to the customers' gossip and thank the baker, making as much bread as he could in hopes of getting more food for dinner. When there weren't any costumers the baker would come and yell at Yugi, telling him he was doing things wrong, which he wasn't, and giving him a slap on the head if he asked anything.

Yugi glanced out of the door to the entrance of the shop. The baker was bent over his precious box of money, there didn't seem to be any costumers. He glanced out of the window and saw that it was getting dark. He wiped his hand across his face tiredly, unconsciously smearing flour over his face.

He looked at the bread he was slicing in half and longed to eat it, but knew that he would only get punished for that. His ribs were still sore from the man's kicks earlier that morning, and he really didn't want the baker to do anything worse just because he couldn't deal with the food he was being given. He'd had less when he was living on the streets with Vivian.

He sighed before placing half of the bread in a paper bag and placing it on the shelf behind him; for the baker to place on display when he ran out, and placing the other half on the shelf across from him for the baker to give to his costumers. Just as Yugi was returning back to the table he heard the lid of the box slam shut and the heavy footfalls of the baker as he entered the room.

The baker was carrying a plate with two slices of bread and a couple pieces of cheese with a glass of water.

"Ea' this and ge' back in tha room ye were in before. Tha' room is ta be yer bedroom. Go' it?"

"Yes sir." Yugi said, accepting the glass and plate gratefully.

He ate the food in silence as he listened to the baker closing and locking up the shop for the night, before lumbering off up the stairs to where he slept. Yugi put the glass and plate in the sink. He would wash them in the morning.

He lowered himself onto the flour sacks, stretching out his aching muscles. His eyes started feeling heavy and he let out one last yawn before succumbing to the sleep he so desperately needed.

* * *

For the next few weeks, it stayed the same as it was the first day Yugi had begun to work for the baker. The baker would come in and yell at him to wake up and beat him if he made any mistakes or if the costumers noticed his presence and complained about his state of dress.

As more weeks went by, the baker began to pay Yugi one gold coin at the end of every week. Yugi had accepted the money gratefully but wondered where he was going to put his hard earned money. The baker solved that problem for Yugi by giving him a leather bag.

Yugi had never once tried to run away from the baker, despite how horribly he was treated and how much the beating hurt, but he had nowhere else to go and had no leads on where he could find Akefia so the only option he had was stay with the baker or live on the streets again.

But deciding to stay with the baker soon had proven to be a very good decision when Yugi thought back on it. Not long after, Yugi had somehow gained enough trust from the baker that the man had soon allowed Yugi to be able to go out into the large city for errands that the baker needed done. Apparently, this was also due to the fact that the baker had a nephew and that his nephew was now apprenticing under him.

* * *

In the years to come, the baker would die a mysterious death and his nephew would take over the business and take in orphans, like Yugi, and pay them for working.

Not to mention that he would treat the orphans better than his uncle had treated Yugi. His business would be very popular and he would be the best baker that London has ever known, due to his kindness and his wonderful bread and sweets that he made for the citizens of London.

And he was always kind and willing to give bread to poor mothers and children and sweets to the orphans and street rats. And forever the baker's nephew would remember the amethyst eyed boy named Yugi, who was treated no better than a slave.

He always hoped, with his big kind heart, that the boy had found a better life than the one presented to him at the bakery that had once belonged to his tyrant of an uncle. But that is a tale for another day.

* * *

On one particular day, Yugi was currently delivering a letter to one of the bakers friends. He was crossing through a square when he heard the whispering.

"Yes…"

"…Akefia his second…"

Curious Yugi sat down on a bench closest to the whispering couple, hoping to gain some information.

"Yes…"

"Exeter…"

"…did you hear where he went?"

"They say the whole family's dead."

"…But why? They never did anything wrong."

"They was planin' treason, they was mate!"

"Bull. The Motou's never would'ave…"

"But they were!"

"You're just pulling my leg."

"I am not."

"And why should I believe you?"

"Well, if you don't believe me, ask Akefia yourself."

"Why would he speak with me?"

"Don't know. But you could try… they say he is visiting York"

"Yeah, when did you hear tha…?"

Before Yugi heard the rest of the sentence, he bolted off the bench and ran all the way back to the baker's his errand completely whipped from his mind. He ran to his room and dove underneath the flour sacks pulling out his money before rushing into the back room taking some loaves of bread and a skein of water. He ran through the city as fast as he could to the gates.

_York. The man said York. He might be wrong but it's the best I've got so far. York, I got to get to York. I'll see what I can find out in there. _

Yugi slowed his pace to a brisk walk looking at the city he had spent the past few months in. It was dreary, drab and boring. He hadn't seen Isabelle, or his Aunt and Uncle. He had hoped that after a month they would have visited. But there was no word of the Kaiba family coming to visit, n**ot** when he was living on the streets nor when he was doing errands for the baker.

The skinny boy continued his brisk walk to the gates slinking down the back streets like a cat before going back to the main streets. If only he had been more focused on his surroundings and less focused on his bitter thoughts. Yugi's thoughts came to an immediate stand still when he crashed into something solid. Slowly he looked up and was startled to see the grinning face of Vivian.

"How…what'…you…"

She just laughed and pulled him into a close hug. "Nice to see you too, Yugi, you little shrimp."

"Shrimp? Who are you calling a shrimp?" He grouched.

"Well, that's beside the point. Where are you going in such a rush?" she said, narrowing her eyes.

Yugi looked around before leading her off to a bench across the square. "I'll tell you after you tell me how in hell you got away from the guards?"

"All right, all right. Calm your horses. Well, it was pretty easy to tell you the truth. They were taking me to Canterbury and we got a couple feet from the gates when I started complaining that I had to go to the bathroom. Well, they were first going to tie me to a rope and have one of the guards go with me. Until I started screaming at them that is." She broke off in a fit of giggles.

After a few minutes she resumed her tale. "They got fed up with my screeching, so they let me go on my own, thinking that I wouldn't be able to run away without them seeing. When I went off to 'go to do my business', I climbed down the ditch and followed it all the way back to London. I slipped past the gates pretending to belong to one of the peasant's family and I've been here for the past few days." She finished smiling.

"Well, aren't you lucky? While you were off gallivanting with the guards I was working for one of the baker's around here."

"Oh? You were working for a baker? I feel I got the better deal despite as you put it 'gallivanting with the guards" She smiled. "So where were you going in such a hurry?"

"I… To the gates." he confessed, staring at the ground.

_It's sad that just as we get reunited, I have to leave. I had wished for so many weeks when I was getting beat by the baker to talk to her, to see her once more. When I finally get my wish, I have to leave. Why, oh why must the world be so cruel to me? Can I not have one ounce of happiness to call my own?_

She narrowed her eyes. "Oh… I see." She spoke coldly. "So, you're leaving me. I get it…"

"It's not like that!" he exclaimed.

"Wel,l it sure seems like that." She spoke, anger burning in her eyes.

"Look I don't want to leave…"

"Then don't! Why do you have to leave? You don't." she stood up clenching her fists.

"I have to Vivian. I have to. I can't stay in London anymore. I have to go to York."

"I kept your secret you know. I could have told the guards." She whispered venomously.

"What secret?" He whispered in confusion.

"Who you are."

Fear gripped tightly at his heart and confusion filled his thoughts. _Does she know who I am? How could she know? I have never told her. No one else recognized me. Or did they? _

"Yes, I know who you are, Yugi Motou. Everyone knows what your face looks like, or looked like. You see, they put up posters with your face on every street. Your whole family actually, you, your parents and your brothers. But your face is different now, isn't it? But I figured it out. I kept your secret and you repay me by leaving me."

She turned and started walking away before Yugi could form a reply. Calling over her shoulder as she left, "Your secret won't be safe anymore. Every guard will hunt you down. Every guard will know where you go. No one will house you. No street rat will help you, no beggar will offer you comfort, no mother will show you pity. You will be killed on site. All I have to do is stretch the truth."

She smirked. "A few white lies here and there… add some more crimes to your list."

"No…" he whispered. Vivian laughed as Yugi begged her to understand. She wouldn't listen.

Yugi sat there for a long time mourning the loss of his close friend. He had hoped that she would understand that he couldn't stay in London anymore. Apparently she was cold hearted and never thought of him as a friend. He rubbed his face tiredly before getting up off the bench and beginning the long journey to York. Maybe he would stop by Nottingham and visit Malik.

* * *

Yugi travelled alone for weeks and with every city that he stayed in he found Vivian's words ring true. No beggar ever helped him, no mother offered him comfort and every guard he met tried to kill him on site. He found a poster in Stamford with a sketch of himself that matched what he looked like perfectly. He looked beneath his picture and found a list of crimes he had committed.

**YUGI MOTOU**

**Wanted Alive!**

**Wanted for treason to the crown, the murder of 3 city guards of London and stealing from the citizens as well as inflicting injuries on a young woman and the rape of a young orphan.**

**If seen report to the nearest guards immediately. You will be awarded for 50 gold coins for any information that you can provide. Approach with Extreme Caution! Citizens do not engage in a fight. He is extremely dangerous.**

**If there is a struggle, kill on site. He is extremely treacherous.**

**By order of the King**

He shook his head at this. The stealing he did do but the treason and the murder of guards, he didn't do that! He also didn't harm Vivian. He continued through each town, evading guards and stealing money and food from the citizens. He decided that he would visit Malik.

* * *

After two weeks of traveling, he found himself gazing at the gates of Nottingham.

Yugi was glad to be in the presence of more people. As he travelled, he always had the strange feeling of someone watching him. Ever since he left Exeter with Isabelle, he had felt that someone, or something, was watching him. It was hard to get a peaceful night's sleep when all he dreamed about where dark empty black eyes that were like endless tunnels. He shivered at the memory.

He walked calmly towards the guards at the gate, but on the inside he was a bag of worms. He was afraid.

_What if they notice me? What if they recognize me from the posters? What if Malik believes the posters?_

"What do you want?" The guard said gruffly, snapping him out of his pessimistic thoughts.


	12. Part Two Reconciliation Chapter 11

**Review :)**

**THANK YOU PHANTOMWORKS! So glad your my beta :D**

* * *

He knelt next to him, his head cradled in his lap.

Atemu looked down at his mentor. Blood was running down his chin from his mouth. Every other minute, he curled into himself, coughing up blood. He stroked his hair. He was in his human form, less painful that way.

"Atemu…when I leave this world…you are… going to have…to lead… the others… teach them what… I taught…you." He spoke weakly.

"Shh… You're not going to leave this world not yet… You're going to make it."

He cradled Akunumkanon closer to him, whispering desperate denials and clinging to that last hope.

"We both know that…I'm not going to make it…I'm not going to …recover…from this… you have to teach the pack everything…everything I taught… you." Akunumkanon said before coughing up more blood.

"No! No… you're going to make it." He shook his head furiously. "You're going to make it!"

"I'm sorry… Atemu."

"It was the humans." Spat Atemu.

"Atemu." Akunumkanon sighed.

"No Akunumkanon! Don't deny it."

"I'm not."

"So it was them." He snarled furiously, clenching his fist and punching it into the dirt.

"Atemu." Akunumkanon spoke sharply, a piercing look in his dulling eyes. "What I mean is don't go back to hating them. It was my own fault."

"It doesn't matter… You're not going to die."

"Don't tell the other pack members the bad things about the humans… tell them the good. Tell them what I taught you."

"Don't worry." He whispered.

Akunumkanon nodded, turning his head to the side, smiling softly as he watched a squirrel scavenge for nuts. Then all of a sudden his eyes lost focus, becoming glassy and lifeless.

"No. No! Akunumkanon come back! Please, please come back. Don't leave. Do you hear! Don't leave me! Please." He cried out, mourning the loss of his mentor and his friend, the leader of the pack.

He shook and yelled at the lifeless body like a madman, silent tears slipping down his cheeks to drip on Akunumkanon's face.

He knelt there, Akunumkanon's lifeless body cradled in his lap, all alone.

"It was the humans." He whispered furiously into the silent forest, before letting lose bone wracking sobs.

Everything else in the forest was silent. As if the animals and trees were mourning the loss of Akunumkanon, leader of the werewolves. The ancient one, always full of wisdom, who now lay dead, cradled in the lap of his student and friend.


	13. Part Two Reconciliation Chapter 12

His head snapped up to meet the dark gaze. Yugi hadn't even realized he was staring at the ground, so caught up was he in his thoughts.

"I want to speak to Malik Ishtar. "

"Look kid you'll have to be more specific than that. Do you know how many Maliks there are?"

_A lot from the way he's going on. _Yugi thought not listening to the guards ranting until…

"Well, I'll tell ya how many Maliks! There are 3!" he said, holding up three fingers and waving them in Yugi's face for emphasis.

_So much for a lot. S_norted Yugi.

"Alright, I get it." He said, holding up his hands to stop the eccentric guard from continuing. "He's taller than me, about my age. Just got back awhile ago, ring any bells?"

"Oh! Malik Ishtar! That Malik. Well, why didn't you say so!"

"I did." Grumbled Yugi.

"After all there is only one Malik here. Things would have gone a lot faster had ya just said 'is name."

Yugi's mouth opened in shock, forming a perfect 'O' shape. Yugi had stood in the same spot listening to this man ranting for practically an hour only to find out that there was only one Malik in this guard post.

_I had to listen to an hour of this guys ranting about 3 Maliks and now he says there's only one! What is wrong with this guy? He just wasted an hour of my day!_

"Why'd ya got yer mouth open? You practicing to catch flies?" the guard asked confused.

Yugi's palm got a nice introduction to his face.

"Well, come on, let's go get Malik!" said the guard who excitedly turned around screaming Malik's name. A loud thump and a groan where heard coming from inside.

The guard turned back around to face Yugi. "He'll be out soon. I've got to go do my patrol now. Nice meeting you though."

Yugi watched the guard leave shaking his head in bemusement. _He may be a bit crazy but at least he's nice. _Yugi thought before he came face to face with a very grumpy looking Malik Ishtar.

* * *

"Malik."

Malik rubbed blurrily at his eyes trying to get them to focus on the blurry shape in front of him.

"Yugi? What are you doing here? I thought you were in London?"

"I was. Then I got a lead on where Akefia is. I was heading over there when I thought I'd come see you." Yugi whispered as he dragged Malik into an ally, far from prying eyes.

"Oh. Well, where is Akefia?"

"York. Did you see the posters around town?"

"No, I don't pay attention to that." Malik said, shaking his head confused.

"Aren't you supposed to pay attention to that since you're a guard and you need to be up to date on the latest and greatest criminals?" Yugi said sarcastically.

"Umm, yeah, but most of the news is about your family. Nothing new."

"Really? Well, either way I'm glad you're oblivious to that stuff." Laughed Yugi, leading them onto a main street.

"Why are you glad?"

"Just look." Said Yugi, laughter gone from his face.

Yugi had lead Malik over to a wanted poster of him. He was afraid that Malik wouldn't want to talk to him, Yugi had been afraid that Malik would believe the posters, but seeing as Malik didn't even care about the posters there was no point in being afraid. Malik was his friend and Yugi felt that Malik needed to know what was going on and needed to hear it from him, not a poster or gossiping old ladies.

Yugi watched as Malik read the poster his anxiety growing, thinking about all the different scenarios that could play out. Malik turned back to Yugi, wondering what to say. He didn't believe the poster. Well not all of it any way. Some of it had to be true, some of it even was only a small piece.

"I just thought that I should be the one to show you. Not all of it is true. The stealing part is. I mean I didn't have any money, what was I supposed to do?"

"I know, Yugi, I know. No matter what you're still my friend. You're like my annoying little brother." Malik stated calmly, leading them off the main street and down a side ally.

"Good to know. I need… I need some supplies as well, for the journey. I have some but not enough to make it to York."

"Don't worry, we'll get supplies on the way out of the city and then we'll head over to York."

"Thanks, I don't know how to thank you." Yugi said in relief. "Wait. We? What do you mean we?"

"I mean, I'm going with you Yugi." Malik laughed, clapping him on the shoulder.

Soon, Yugi found himself waiting on the steps for Malik to come back with the supplies for their trip. Yugi was still confused as to why Malik was coming with him. He never expected Malik to come and he protested against it but Malik wouldn't listen and insisted on coming.

Not too soon after, Malik came out with two packs filled to bursting point with supplies and the two friends, two brothers in arms, started another long journey to York. _Seems like we're making a lot of these long journeys, doesn't it?_


	14. Part Two Reconciliation Chapter 13

Atemu sat under the aspen tree. Dried tear tracks on his face ran from his eyes down to his chin. He didn't bother to scrub his face clean.

No tears ran down his cheeks now though. He had to be strong, strong for the pack. He would have time to mourn later when the pack couldn't see his weakness.

He wasn't the leader and he wouldn't be for some time. But he still had to give a speech to his other pack mates. He had told the elders about what had transpired in the forest that morning.

He looked up from the ground and saw Anzu approaching him. Atemu didn't want to deal with her at the moment. She was a nuisance and that was all.

Anzu was a pretty looking werewolf, tan coloured fur and blue-grey eyes. Her personality on the other hand wasn't so pretty. She was just annoying.

When Atemu was younger, he made the mistake of talking to her. Ever since, she hung around him all the time, clinging to his arm, and wouldn't give him any privacy. As she grew older she declared herself his and that Atemu belonged to her and only to her, which aggravated him to no end.

He had tried telling her before that he wasn't interested, but Anzu just wouldn't take the hint and after awhile he just gave up, having no motivation to deal with her.

"Atemu, where have you been? You missed your afternoon practice with Tristan. What happened? You never miss your practices with Tristan."

"What are you? My mother?" growled Atemu.

"No silly, just your girlfriend. One that cares very much about you." She giggled.

It grated on Atemu's ears. She wasn't his girlfriend but no matter how many times he told her she still insisted to him and everyone else that she was.

"Look, Anzu, I know that you're just… looking out for me. But I want to be left alone all right. Please. I'll tell you what happened later alright." he bit out exasperated.

"Oh, okay fine, but if you don't tell me after lunch I'm going to be very upset with you." She giggled again, before skipping away. Atemu gave a sigh of relief. Finally, he would be able to think without her bothering him.

* * *

Thoughts continued to whirl around Atemu's head without stopping, giving him no peace. He would rather talk to Anzu right now than be alone. At least she gave him a distraction and silenced his raging inferno of thoughts.

Hours passed by and Atemu hadn't moved from his spot. Slow steady footsteps approached him. He grimaced, praying that it wasn't her. The footsteps came to a stop and Atemu felt someone sit down beside him.

He turned his head to his left still praying. His prayers turned out to be for nothing though, for it was not Anzu who had approached him but Tristan.

Tristan was a wolf a little older than his age with twin boys, his sister had been murdered a few years back and he was left to care for her cubs. He was a pure blood werewolf like Atemu; meaning he was born a werewolf and not a human turned werewolf.

He was brilliant at archery. The best actually, and Atemu practiced with him every day. Atemu himself wasn't bad at archery but compared to Tristan, he looked like a kid, but then again everybody looked like a novice compared to Tristan.

"Hey, I overheard the elders talking. They said something about Akunumkanon not being here anymore."

"Just like you Tristan, straight to the point and blunt as always." Laughed Atemu.

He shook his head sadly before continuing. "Akunumkanon isn't going to be leading the pack anymore. No one is for a while. The elders say that they want to wait till I'm a bit older before I lead the pack."

"So he's dead." Tristan said somberly. He glanced over at Atemu knowing how much this must hurt him. He put his arm around Atemu.

"Yeah, he died this morning. I'm going to have to give a speech to the pack. I don't think I can Tristan. I'm not strong enough."

"You can Atemu and you are strong enough. It's always tough at first, but you'll move past it just like you always do."

"I guess. It's still hard. I feel so weak." Atemu sniffed.

"Don't. You're not weak Atemu, you never have been and you never will be."

Suddenly Tristan stood up pulling Atemu by the arm up with him.

"Come on. I'll help you with your speech. We'll get through this. Both of us."

"Thank you Tristan."

* * *

With Tristan's help, Atemu managed to make a speech and with Tristan by his side, he managed to speak in front of the whole pack about the tragic event that had transpired earlier. Although Atemu didn't cry, his voice did crack once or twice.

With bowed heads the pack mourned the loss of a great and wise leader. Akunumkanon the third would be sorely missed by all the pack. No one would ever forget him and what he strived to achieve. His memory would live on forever in the hearts of the werewolf pack.


	15. Part Two Reconciliation Chapter 14

The two boys started their long journey two days ago and to Yugi it felt like they hadn't made any progress. Yugi was becoming impatient, worrying that Akefia wouldn't be in York by the time that they got there. Malik tried to calm him down, telling him that Akefia would still be there but Yugi wouldn't listen.

During midday, Malik decided to set up camp despite Yugi's protests. Having no other choice, Yugi helped Malik set up the camp site. The two of them practiced their fighting skills until it grew dark and the twinkling stars appeared.

Yugi sat across the fire from Malik, a bowl of porridge cradled in his lap and a glass of water by his knee. He was staring, deep in thought, idly watching the flickering flames. Finally, he glanced up as Malik announced that he was going to get some shut eye. Silently, Yugi nodded throwing the rest of his meal at the fire and draining the remaining water in his cup.

He got up and took Malik's dirty dishes saying he was going to wash them in the river, ignoring Malik saying that he should watch where he was going because it was dark out and he could trip and kill himself.

On his way to the river, which more resembled a stream, Yugi felt like something was watching him. He hadn't felt that since Exeter. It had been so long that he had almost forgotten. In his mind he pictured giant glowing amber eyes. He shook his head, trying to clear it just saying that he was paranoid.

He knelt near the stream. No matter how hard, Yugi tried he still felt the presence of something. Scratch that more than one thing.

_Why do I always get the feeling that something's stalking me whenever I'm in the wild? This is getting really annoying, if this continues I am going to have a screaming fit worse than Isabelle. _

Just as Yugi finished washing the dishes and was halfway back to the camp site he heard a strangled yell.

_Huh. That sounds oddly like Malik. Well, of course it would be Malik who else would it be? Idiot…Wait…why is Malik making gurgling noises?_

Dropping the dishes, he ran as fast as he could towards Malik, dread pooling in his stomach. Just as Yugi reached the edge of the firelight something pounced on his back, knocking him flat on the ground. Yugi's mouth filled with dirt, vainly he tried to get up but something furry kept him down.

The thing turned him over and Yugi felt moist hot, not to mention smelly breath on his face. The thing growled. Yugi's foggy mind processed that the growling sounded like words. The thing was talking!

"I've waited a long time for this. Normally, I would just tear out your throat. Except I've been watching you. You're strong, stronger than most humans. The self preservation skills that you posses are something I have come to respect. Instead of killing you, I am going to give you a second chance. I will be back for you later."

"I…wha…" Yugi stammered.

"Shh… Relax." The thing soothed.

Yugi, against his will, found his body relaxing at the soothing tones the thing produced. Before Yugi could gain the wits to fight back the thing raised its paws and slashed its claws across his face.

Yugi cried out in shook as he felt the skin on his cheek tare apart. Yugi heard the thing make growling noises that sounded like laughing before the thing opened its mouth and clamped its sharp canines down on his torso, just below the ribs. Yugi screamed as he felt the beast bite down hard before ripping its teeth out of his side.

The beast laughed again before liking the wound on his side. Yugi's sight became blurry. Clamping a hand to his side, he tried fruitlessly to stem the bleeding. He groaned as he tried to stand. Slowly, he tried to make his way closer to the camp site. He had to find Malik, he had to make sure that he was okay.

Staggering, breath coming out in short pants, legs turning to led, his head pounding, Yugi finally passed out. As his head hit the dir,t not far away someone shot out of bed, their eyes wide and hands shaking sweat dripping off their forehead a single word formed on their lips.

"No." they whispered.

* * *

When Yugi awoke next, it was to find his face in the mud, apparently it had rained during the night, and his mouth filled with dirt. He spat it out, hoping that what had happened last night was all just a bad dream. That the reason that his mouth was filled with dirt was because he'd had a nightmare and he rolled off his makeshift bed because of it.

Yugi attempted to sit up but a white hot pain in his side stopped him. Groaning he put a hand next to his side, bringing it close to his face he could make out blood covering his fingers. He lifted his hand and traced the three slices on his left cheek, running from his cheekbone to his jaw. He closed his eyes and looked towards camp.

The fire had long since burnt out and his bed roll was shredded. His pack, once full of food, was ripped to pieces and most of the food was either eaten or scattered across the ground.

_No longer edible. No way am I going to eat it after it was dragged through the mud._

Slowly, despite the pain, Yugi made his way over to Malik's side of the camp. Blood. That's the first thing that registered in Yugi's mind. Then pieces, pieces of flesh that had once belonged to a human, a number of body pieces that had once belonged to Malik, but now they were torn off of Malik's tanned body.

Yugi dropped to his knees and crawled to what was left of Malik. His eyes hardened as he looked down at the bloodied form of Malik. He thought back to last night remembering the gurgled screams Malik had made. Glancing back at Malik or what was left of him, Yugi looked at his face, registering the frozen look of pain on his face.

Yugi turned around before standing up, he went to Malik's pack and dug out his sword. He went back to the body of his best friend. He lifted off the necklace that Malik always wore tears streamed down his face as sobs built up within him before bursting forth opening the flood gates. Crying and wailing, he slipped it over his head with shaking hands and stuck the sword in the ground as a makeshift grave marker. Slowly he sat down in the mud. He began a silent prayer for Malik.

* * *

Thinking back to his life before the attack on Exeter, Yugi thought on all the horrid things that he had done. Closing his eyes Yugi let his mind wander reflecting his on his life.

_I wasn't always like this. Dirty black hair __with __dirt so old and dried __like __mud that covers me head to __toe__, I'm surprised people don't think I'm some lifelike mud statue._

_No, I wasn't always like this. I lived a different life. I was a different person back then. Back then I wasn't driven by revenge and hatred. I wasn't always eager to learn new ways on how to kill the man who killed so many_

_I used to be a noble. __Born from two noble parents,__ I was of noble blood with two older brothers and one younger sister. But you wouldn't have guessed that from what I look like now, sitting alone in a forest covered in dried mud and blood caked all over my hands, face, and clothes._

_I used to wear fine clothes tailored to my every curve. I was taught how to read and write and how to be the perfect gentleman. I never would have thought twice about a beggar on the streets; I never would have dreamed of sympathizing with one. But now, now I understand them and treat them with respect, respect I never would have given before._

_I used to be a snob. I looked down on everything. I had servants and I treated them horribly. I treated them worse than the dirt on the soles of my shoes, shoes that I no longer have. I treated many people like that. I had many enemies and little friends in the city my family ruled. _

_We traveled to many different cities actually. Everywhere I went, no matter whom it was, no matter what city they ruled and no matter their status in society, even if it was higher than mine, I treated them worse than anyone could have imagined. I was a bratty child with no respect for others. _

_That was before I died. _

_A little piece of me died and left me when Malik left this world, just like a little piece of me died when my family left this world and entered the realm of the dead. All innocence is lost to me now. When people used to tell me that innocence is bliss, they are right in every single way and you should listen to them and cherish every single moment of your naive innocence._

_Humans, _he thought, _think that they are superior to everything and everyone but themselves, and I was no exception. But now I see; now I too see the truth._

* * *

Soon, he found himself trapped, unable to wake up, all he saw were big dark empty brown eyes resembling dark endless tunnels. His dream shifted and he was watching Malik's death, unable to move, held back from rushing to his friend's aid. All he could do was watch as his friend tried to fight against the beasts. Just when he thought the nightmare was never going to end, his dream shifted again and he dreamed of the attack on Exeter once more.

* * *

The next time Yugi awoke, it was to a face full of furs and someone bandaging his side as another put some sort of paste on his cheek. It was soothing and it took the sting out of his cheek. The left side of his face was slowly going numb. His vision was blurry so Yugi couldn't get a good look at his new caretakers or his surroundings.

* * *

For the next few days Yugi faded in and out of consciousness. Every time he woke, someone was by him, either watching him or changing the bindings on his side.

When Yugi next awoke, his vision had cleared and he could see a woman, middle age with greying hair, sitting in the corner watching him. When she noticed that he had woken up, she nodded her head at him, smiling briefly before leaving. Yugi was understandably confused. The tent flaps opened and the women entered and a boy who looked around Malik's age, but his eyes told a different story.

"My name is Tristan, and this is Asa." The boy said smiling slightly.

"My… name is… Yugi." He rasped before bursting out into a coughing.

Asa handed him a cup of water which he drank greedily.

_My mouth feels like its harboring a freaking desert. I'm guessing that these two nursed me back to health. Guess I should thank them._

"You two, I'm guessing, bandaged me up?"

"Yes." the one named Asa answered. "You woke up briefly while we worked. I hope we didn't cause you any pain."

"No… None. How long have I been out? Where am I? How did I get here? What happened to me?"

"Whoa." Tristan said, holding up his hand and laughing slightly. "You've been out for two weeks. You are in our camp far away from civilization. As for what happened to you, that is something that will be discussed later."

"Later?" Yugi asked, disappointed and confused.

"I know you are confused and want answers. But you are still injured and need to heal. Not to mention you just woke up." said Asa, soothing his frayed nerves. "You will have your answers, just not now."

_Ugh. I don't want to wait. I want to know now. I can't wait I need to get to York._

"We buried your friend as well." Tristan said hesitantly, like he was fearing that Yugi would burst out crying or storm around in a rage.

Instead, Yugi just lowered his head staring at his hands folded neatly in his lap, ignoring the tears dropping every so often upon them. Malik's death was a fresh wound on his broken heart but he knew that getting upset wouldn't bring Malik back. Besides, Malik wouldn't want Yugi to continuously mourn him. That didn't mean that he would forget about him though.

"The cuts on your face will scar, as well as the bite on your side." Asa said sitting beside him on the bed of furs.

"I guessed as much. I… Thank you, for healing me."

"You're welcome, young one." She said, smiling slightly at his politeness.

Tristan slowly came over to the bed and helped Yugi to stand up saying that he was going to show him around the camp. Tristan was kind and a good guide. He pointed out where the stream was, where to go to get food, where the best spots to eat were, as well as where the training grounds were placed.

Tristan also introduced Yugi to a few of the campers, or rather he tired to. They, unfortunately for Yugi ,were not as friendly as Tristan and Asa had been and after the first two Tristan decided to give up. They obviously didn't like Yugi nor did they want anything to do with him. They always made snide comments and glared at him as he passed by or spat at his feet when he was introduced to them.

* * *

After that wonderful tour, Tristan brought Yugi back to his new tent. Yugi had tried to get answers out of Tristan during the tour but he said that his questions would be answered during dinner.

Luckily for Yugi dinner was only in a couple hours. So back in his tent, Asa and Tristan had left a long time ago after checking on his wounds, Yugi decided to get some sleep. He was still tired, so he lay down and closed his eyes hoping that he wouldn't have any more nightmares.


	16. Part Two Reconciliation Chapter 15

He gazed up at the stars, wondering to himself. What they were exactly? Stars, what were they? Did anybody really know at all or did they all just guess?

_Are they the souls of warriors long dead? Will I one day join them? Will people remember me and the things I fought for?_

_Or will I to be forgotten, like the long dead warriors who hang up there in the sky only being seen in the pitch black night sky by those who take the time to glance up wards?_

_Will God forgive me for my sins, for the act of evil I have committed and for being a child of Satan? Or will I be damned like the rest of my kind and like the humans and worshipers of God so reverently believe?_

_Will the acts of good I have done counter act the sins I have committed? Am I an abomination, like that women screamed at me in the chilly night air?_

Atemu sighed, shaking his head, trying in vain to banish such foolish thoughts from his head.

_It is best not to dwell on the past as Akunumkanon has always said to me._

But for the life of him, Atemu could not forget about the past, for it was swimming in the forefront of his mind and he felt himself drawn into the memories of a few nights ago and what had transpired on the deserted road between him and a lone woman.

* * *

A couple nights ago, Atemu had found a woman on the road, injured. He had gone over to help her. He had, unfortunately, forgotten to change back into his human form. After all he was so used to being around others like him that it had completely slipped his mind, which later turned out to be a grave mistake and one that he regretted with every fiber of his being.

When the women had awoken she had screamed insults at him, called him an abomination. She had then picked up his fallen dagger and tried to run him through. When she had tried to kill him, she failed, and instead she impaled herself rather than him. Atemu would forever remember her eyes looking at him, accusing him as if saying 'this is your fault'. After this incident, Atemu hated humans even more.

* * *

Shaking his head and riding himself of the bitter memory, he sheathed the dagger which he had been staring at as he relieved that particular memory. Atemu heaved himself off of the ground and made his way back to camp, passing the tent of the new werewolf.

He heard screams coming from inside. Not loud but muffled indicating a nightmare. He ignored it and kept walking. He wanted nothing to do with the human turned werewolf.

He hated them, almost as much as he hated normal humans. They were in the running for which topped his hate list, yet so far Anzu was winning.


	17. Part Three Resignation Chapter 16

Breathing unevenly, Yugi shot out of bed, eyes wide and franticly shaking and shivering, trying to calm himself down. He glanced down at his hands but they weren't flesh colored like they should have been. Yugi felt panic start to unfurl deep within him.

They were covered in blood he looked at the rest of himself and everything was covered in blood. He nearly screamed but stopped himself. That would cause people to come check on him.

He couldn't let people see him so instead he ran as fast as he could to the stream. He felt the hysteria build up within him and furiously he began to scrub himself, but no matter how hard he tried the blood just wouldn't wash away.

Slowly, after an hour of scrubbing, the blood seemed to wash away. Yugi didn't question whether the blood was real or just his imagination. Truthfully, Yugi didn't want to know. Instead, he just looked up at the sky.

_Hey, it's almost time for dinner. Finally, now I can get my questions answered. Guess I better get back to my tent and meditate or something._

Asa and Tristan entered Yugi's tent carrying food and drink for all of them. Quickly, they finished eating knowing there would be a long tiring conversation afterwards.

"Well, what do you want to know first?" Tristan asked, breaking the silence.

"What happened would be nice. What bit me and where I am? That would be a good start."

"Well. What you need to know first is that werewolves do exist."

_Yeah right. They are crazy! _Yugi snorted to himself quietly.

Asa hearing the snort adopted a sad expression. But Yugi did not pay attention to this and would not let himself feel guilt. To him, it was obvious that these people were crazy.

"Right, next you are going to start spouting off that vampires, witches and wizards as well as giants exist!" he laughed, looking between the two across from him, waiting for them to pronounce how clever he was to figure out their little joke. Yet they just gave him a look, a look that he had come to know well over these past few months.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me! This is a joke, right?' he asked, desperately still not willing to believe.

_Even if these crazy people believe in that does not mean I, too, will believe in it! _He thought defiantly.

"I don't want to scare you but I think this is the only way to show you and to get you to understand." Tristan said, looking directly into Yugi's amethyst eyes

Yugi watched flabbergasted as Tristan's arm, a human arm, turned into a wolf's front paw, then watched as the rest of his body turned into a wolf, but it didn't stop there. The wolf form started growing until it resembled a human like shape except withfurry. Oh, and Tristan had a tail.

_He has a tail! A bloody freaking tail! Oh my God, I am going insane!_

Yugi tried to make his mouth work but just stammered nonsense, watching as the werewolf before him turned back into a human.

"You were bit by a werewolf. We think it was Bakura. He hates humans. Usually he doesn't leave survivors and we don't know why he left you alive even if just barely, but we found you. We made a stretcher and brought you back here and tried to heal you. You are now a werewolf."

"I really am a werewolf." Yugi stated incredulously.

_A werewolf. My crazy uncle was right. Werewolves really do exist. This werewolf has been stalking me since Exeter. I was a human. Bakura. That was his name, Bakura. He is the one who killed Malik. He hates humans. I should be dead. He left me alone because he respects me?_

"He'll be back." Yugi whispered, without realizing had spoken the last part out loud, with a chilling comprehension.

"What do you mean? Who will be back?" Asa questioned.

"Bakura. He said that he would be back for me."

"That is…unusual." Tristan said, putting his head in his hand.

"I… What will happen to me now?"

"Well." Tristan said, shaking himself out of his thoughts. "You will have to learn how to turn into a werewolf. Basically, you just have to think about being a wolf and you will turn. You won't be able to return to normal civilization, but you can live here."

"I will give you lessons on the pack laws and everything else that you may need to know, like how to start a fire. Normally, our pack leader would show you how to hunt, but given the circumstances, I will be the one teaching you how to hunt and so on." Asa said calmly.

"Alright."

"We will let you sleep now. Good night Yugi."

With that Tristan and Asa left the tent leaving Yugi to his thoughts. After mulling everything over, he decided to try to turn into his werewolf form.

He did what Tristan had said. He envisioned in his mind's eye turning into a werewolf. He felt himself changing. It was painless at first but then he felt a stabbing pain and something warm and sticky on his arms and torso as well as his legs. His eyes opened in shock and his breath caught in his throat when he saw the blood covering him.

Just like before he ran to the stream. His tent was behind everyone else's at the back of the camp and close to the stream, so no one noticed him leave the tent. He scrubbed away the blood.

On his way back to his tent, he glanced over at the fire and noticed that everyone was no longer humans but werewolves.

_They must have been in my human form so they didn't scare me before it was explained to me. I now live with a bunch of werewolves._

* * *

Over the next few weeks every day, in his spare time, Yugi would try to become a werewolf, like the others of his new pack, but he would always find himself covered in blood and pain would start to spread all over his body. Soon, Yugi became terrified at the thought of changing and gave it up.

He also had lessons with Asa on werewolves and their daily activities. He learned that they spent most of their time in their werewolf forms. He also learned that he had an obsession with raw meat. As for hunting? They quickly learned that it was not for him and Asa quickly gave up teaching him, saying it wasn't that important and the pack had plenty of hunters already.

He learned archery from Tristan. Calm and patient as he was, he made a very good teacher. Yugi soon found out that he was very good at archery and Tristan always complemented him on his natural ability. From the corner of his eye, Yugi took note of how the other werewolves were angered and jealous of this fact, so it was obvious that none of them were as good as him or got praise from Tristan.

He also discovered that Tristan had two twin nephews, who were right devils if you asked Yugi, but he also had a soft spot for them and they reminded him very much like Isabelle and Charles which always made him a bit sad.

The twins, although they were mischief makers and their main target was Yugi, liked him well enough and would want to play with him constantly. Yugi was all too happyto oblige them and play their silly little games, if only to help him close up the gaping void inside his heart and chest.

Yugi didn't see or interact with the other werewolves much, but when he did it wasn't pretty. They hated him, all of them except for Asa, Tristan and the twin cubs.

There was one werewolf in particular who made it her personal mission to make him miserable. Yugi later found out her name was Anzu. She threw rocks at him and made fun of him, insulting him for still being in his human form, the other werewolves would laugh at him or beat him. He tried to fight back but it was always an unfair fight.

* * *

Whenever he sat at the fire to eat, he got his food spilled in his lap, or got hot water poured on his head. Atemu was the one who often told the others to back off when it got too bad but he didn't do this often, just once in awhile as if to appease some higher being and he would never look at Yugi when he did something like this.

He never stopped his girlfriend, Anzu, from stopping her actions though. He usually just watched with cold hallow eyes. He didn't necessarily participate in the beatings or taunting but he wasn't quick to interfere. Only once in a while when he had a headache, which Yugi found wasn't very often, would he actually tell Anzu to leave him be until another day.

Yugi found that Atemu loved to point out his faults. However,he wasn't as vicious as Anzu. He usually did it in an offhand manner as if he didn't care who it was he was telling, but it usually encouraged her and the others into beating him and more taunts. In Yugi's eyes, Atemu was the leader of his group of tormentors rather than Anzu.

* * *

This continued on for awhile until Yugi got fed up and just stopped coming to dinner. He just couldn't eat anymore, he was so depressed and the nightmares were not helping to improve his mood, nor were the other werewolves.

Over time Yugi started to lose a lot of weight and was wondering if he was meant to die that fateful night along with Malik rather than walk around alive. He vaguely wondered as he chewed on a piece of raw deer if this was his punishment for not dying along with his family.


	18. Part Three Resignation Chapter 17

He sat under a tree, hidden in the shadows, watching them dance and sing around the fire. They danced around the fire, bracelets and necklaces clinking and chiming together in rhythm to the beat of the drums. Their tails swirled around behind them as they twirled, dancing with one another to the beat of the music.

Yugi wanted to join them so badly but he couldn't. So here he sat, underneath the pine tree, hidden by the darkness of the night, watching them like an outcast. Which in a way he was. As they say he was 'A lone wolf'. He sure felt like that in this pack.

Yugi sighed heavily. _I wish I could celebrate with them._

Out of the corner of his eye, Yugi saw someone moving towards him through the darkness. Yugi was sitting at the edges of the firelight. No one else seemed to notice the figure moving towards the 'outcast' of the pack.

Yugi felt the person drop down beside him in the dark. Yugi quickly looked over, taking in the profile before quickly looking away with a pink tinge across his cheek, embarrassed to have been caught looking. It was Atemu, his current tormentor, the leader of the group. Atemu, who loved to point out how much of an outcast Yugi was.

_He probably came over here to mock me some more. Is he going to beat me up while everyone's preoccupied with the celebration?_

But, what Yugi found odd was that he was alone. No Anzu to hang onto his every syllable, no giant group. Nope, just Atemu.

_On that happy note he probably will beat me up._

"Why do you sit here lurking in the shadows? Why do you refuse to be a wolf and join us?" Atemu asked gruffly, picking at his claws.

"I don't refuse..." Yugi began feebly only to have Atemu roughly cut him off.

"Does it disgust you? Does the thought of being a werewolf disgust you? Do we disgust you? Is that it? Do you not want to be a wolf? Do you hate us?"

Yugi looked over at him once more before lowering his head. Atemu looked confused, angry even.

_When is he not angry?_

And was that sadness glinting in his eyes?

_I really must be delusional to imagine Atemu sad. Yeah, Atemu, sad? Maybe when hell freezes over._

"No, Atemu. I don't hate you, nor do you disgust me."

Yugi felt so frustrated but at the same time so tired. Usually, Yugi wasn't allowed to address the other wolves by their first names, because to them he was vermin, kind of like what Yugi used to think of servants and street rats in his old life. What goes around comes around as the saying goes.

But he just wanted Atemu to listen to him and in Yugi's frustration, his name just slipped out. But Atemu didn't seem to care or he just didn't notice.

"Then why?" he questioned softly.

Although still fearful, Yugi felt the urge to tell him why, so Yugi met his gaze evenly, staring into his eyes.

"Because I'm scared." Those three simple words were harder to get out than anything Yugi has ever had to say before.

Atemu turned to look at Yugi, surprise and curiosity filling his crimson orbs. No taunting or mocking, no snide remarks forming behind his lips. Yugi gazed into those dark crimson eyes. Usually they were so cold they were like pieces of ice, but not tonight. Tonight they were softer, warmer than usual, as if inviting Yugi to explain to him, to tell him everything.

So Yugi did. Yugi told him the things he hid from everyone else, even himself. Things Yugi had buried so deep he had almost forgotten them.

Yugi told him about the dreams and the blood. How werewolves were considered bedtime monsters, nothing more than myths and legends meant to scare the children when they were naughty. And those that believed in them thought that they were monsters, abominations and that he could not help but at times think that way too.

He told Atemu about how the priests at church had drilled into them that all things that do not follow the path that had been set out for them by God and were not made in the view of God were abominations and Satan's children and deserved to be killed.

"The nightmares are what scare me the most. I remember the first couple times I tried to change, it hurt a lot, and I cannot even begin to describe the pain. I guess it would be like wearing a silver mask all day and night and it would never kill you, you would just feel the eternal burning pain that would never end. And the more I tried to shift forms, the more the pain increased, eventually I gave up. In the dreams, the pain is worse than in reality and I'm afraid that if I try to change, it will hurt even more than in the dreams. Every time I go to sleep or even shut my eyes I see myself changing into a wolf and the pain..."

Yugi shook his head and shivered slightly as he remembered it. Atemu must have noticed his discomfort, for he put his large paw on Yugi's shoulder, silently urging Yugi to keep going.

"I just... it's...it sucks me in... into the change and the pain. I mean, I can't wake myself up and I can't make it stop. It takes me longer and longer to get out every time it happens, and when it happens I can't hold back my screams any more. I scream in the dream and in reality. I think that I scream because I'm remembering the attack on Exeter. Every time I wake up, I'm always covered head to toe in blood." Yugi paused shakily taking a breath, running a small pale hand through his tangled hair.

"I've never told anyone that. I don't know why I told you. I guess I just needed someone, to have someone..." Yugi stopped. There wasn't anything else for him to say.

Yugi couldn't even begin to form words to describe the pain he was feeling, emotionally and physically. Yugi kept his gaze on the ground, watching the dirt as he shuffled his feet. Yugi felt Atemu shift closer to him.

_Great ,he is either going to punch me or strangle me. Brilliant, I tell him about the worst things, the things I have kept hidden from everyone and he's gunna either beat me up or murder me. Now I can either run, which is futile since he's a werewolf and I'm a human. Or I could scream, not like anyone cares, or just sit here and do the old, let's pretend I'm a rock and maybe he will be stupid enough to believe it. _

_Unfortunately, Atemu's not an idiot. _

But before Yugi could execute any of his ideas he felt two, very furry, not to mention muscular arms encircle him, _Oh God! I'm going to get strangled to death. _Hugging Yugi close, to his furry, muscular chest, Atemu let his surprisingly soothing voice fill the air between them.

"I never knew," he spoke quietly. "I can't change what I have done and said to you before. But I can change how I act now."

_Wait! What? Where's the pressure on my neck? Isn't he supposed to be making me make disgusting gurgling noises as he strangles me? Isn't he supposed to murder me? Why is he hugging me? Did he get hit in the head one too many times or is he drunk? _

_Did he seriously offer to not constantly pick on me? Maybe I'm the one that got hit too many times on the head. I mean, it is possible that I am imagining all of this because I am lonely, but why would I imagine Atemu to be nice to me?_

Slowly, he released Yugi. Yugi just nodded dazedly at Atemu, still thinking what the hell was wrong with Atemu and himself for that matter. He looked at Yugi, once more studying him.

"Maybe the reason that you can't change is because you are rejecting your wolf? Whether you mean to or not, it could be because you are afraid it might hurt you, like in your dreams. But it doesn't hurt to transform. There are other human turned werewolves and it has never hurt any of them, Yugi." He spoke softly, gazing at the dancing werewolves.

_He just called me Yugi. He really is drunk. But I don't smell any alcohol on his breath._

"How about this? I will help you and I will teach you all I know about werewolves if you teach me all you know about humans in return. Does that seem like a fair deal to you?" Atemu asked, his wolf head cocking to one side.

Yugi snapped out of his daze. _Wait, he's asking me if that's okay? Not the usual 'order and you don't have a say because you're human'?_

Slowly, and cautiously, Yugi nodded his head, "Yeah that seems like a fair deal." And, just for good manners. "Thank you, Atemu."

Yugi lowered his head once more, looking at the dirt being shifted beneath his ever moving feet. Yugi heard Atemu leave, his heavy paws padding lightly on the soft dirt, back to the celebrations.

_I wonder if this is just some way to get back at me for some unknown reason, probably for existing._

As Yugi watched his retreating form, tail swishing from side to side, Yugi couldn't help but hope that Atemu wasn't as bad as he thought.

* * *

Yugi thought back to all the times the wolves of the pack hurt or mocked him or humiliated him in any way that their tiny itty-bitty brains could think up. Atemu though, never really did anything. It was always, usually, Anzu who said or initiated anything. Most of the time Atemu just stayed silent during a lot of the humiliation being inflicted upon him most of the time and watched the whole thing or left after five minutes and being bored. That's not to say that he didn't do anything.

Although, when it was just Yugi and him, Atemu just ignored Yugi, giving a snide or rude comment here and there when others were around, but for the most part he didn't even give Yugi a second glance.

Atemu never physically hurt Yugi like the other wolves of the pack had taken to doing recently. They always did that under Anzu's watchful eye though, and it was usually her who started it and the others just joined in. Atemu actually stopped them when he saw it getting to bad, though he did throw in how weak and pathetic Yugi was before he left with the rest of the pack.

Out of all the wolves in the pack, Atemu wasn't the worst. The one who deserved that title was Anzu.

_Maybe Atemu really does want to help me. Maybe he really does want to stop fighting with me. Only time will tell. Maybe I am being too hopeful. _

Yugi sighed and went back to gazing longingly at the wolves dancing merrily around the fire. Laughing, dancing and singing as one, not a single one making fun of the other. All equals, all except him. But maybe with Atemu's help, he too, will be their equal. Maybe, just maybe, things will start to change within the pack.

* * *

"Bloody hell!" Yugi cursed as a rock bounced of his head.

Turning his head swiftly, he saw that it was one of Tristan's twin cubs. Apparently, the little cub had inherited his father's marksman skills, lucky for the cub, unlucky for Yugi who was currently the little cubs' target.

"Did you know that hell comes from part of a word in Norse Mythology? You see Hell is actually taken from the word-" Joey said.

Joey was a werewolf aged 20 but he looked more like Tristan's age of 16, so Yugi had never believed Joey when he said he was 22. It was one of those weird things that happened inside the pack. Tristan said he was older than he appeared to be as well.

Joey was a healer apprenticing under Asa. Joey got along well with Yugi and did not act like the rest of the pack did. Yugi had taken a great liking to Joey and Joey as well held a great liking for his new friend Yugi.

"-I am being pelted by flying rocks by the devil incarnate over there, and you are giving me a dull rather boring, not to mention irrelevant, history lesson? What is the matter with you?" Yugi said utterly perplexed, staring at Joey at if he was from another world all together, completely forgetting about the rocks.

"Nothing" Joey said simply "I just thought you would like to know where the swear word that you used in front of 'the devil incarnate,' as you put it, means before Tristan finds out and you are facing his wrath all on your own. That way you can defend yourself so you won't get a horde of arrows, which will seem like a horde of angry hornets bearing down on you as you run away with your tail between your legs."

"Oh shi-Mff!"

"I actually have no wonderful history lesson for you that will save you from Tristan's fury for that particular swear word, so you might want to stop the swearing and use my 'dull and irrelevant history lesson' to your advantage. I suggest you let the devil incarnate pelt rocks at you in that tiny little sling, and be nice so he won't tattle on you. If you do as I said, your punishment for swearing in front of the little cub will be significantly less." Joey said smugly.

"I loathe you. I really, really do." Yugi growled as he ripped away the offending paw from his mouth.

Joey laughed maniacally without pause. Turning swiftly on his heel he walked from the edge of the camp and towards the center.

_Most likely to spread the news that I am being pelted by abhorred rocks by the devil incarnate over there and then they will all flock to gloat at my humiliation. _Yugi thought bitterly as he sat on the mother earth, with his legs crossed, his tail in his lap and his arms crossed tightly across his furry chest. Who had mastered his transformations a few weeks prior

* * *

Atemu had worked Yugi day and night on transforming into his wolf form and boring him with history lessons. Yet no matter how boring they were, they managed to calm Yugi's whole outlook on werewolves and the way they lived.

Still, Yugi was uncomfortable with his werewolf form and so he only spent a little amount of time in his animal skin. If he spent more than a couple hours in the wolf form, the pain would end up building and he wouldn't be able to change back into a human because he would be consumed by the pain and scream uncontrollably until he passed out.

The first time that this had occurred, it had left our poor werewolf friend Atemu in panic attack, running around in circles trying to help his friend. When his friend passed out, he thought that Yugi had died and immediately rushed him to Asa and Joey, which is how the two met when he woke up.

* * *

Yugi felt his ears twitching slightly as he heard the spawn of Satan loading up his little sling and felt his head moving automatically of its own accord trying to dodge the flying missiles. Which was impossible seeing as this was Tristans nephew that was shooting.

And soon enough, Yugi's earlier pessimistic predictions rang true, and some of the werewolf pack had shown up to laugh at Yugi's predicament and urge the little cub on in his not so harmful torture of Yugi. Although, if you were to say this to Yugi, he might just ignore you or scream obscenities at you, and show you the ever growing bruise on his scarred cheek. He would be most likely to do the latter of the two options.

Scanning his eyes across the gathering crowd, he took notice that Anzu was there, laughing and pointing like a mad lunatic of a women, as well as Atemu , Joey and the Satin spawn's twin brother, though there was no sign of Tristan.

Heaving a huge depressing sigh and tightening his crossed arms around his chest, he willed his anger down so he would not snap the cubs neck as he was pelted by rocks. Anzu's laughter was not helping his increasing anger nor the rising humiliation, which we all know can drive us to do stupid things.

Then when Yugi thought that the humiliation could not worsen, Anzu took up a sling sat beside the kid and started slinging rocks at him. Although, the rocks she threw at him were a lot sharper and caused a high pitched yelp to burst through his unwilling lips.

Yugi felt his cheeks heat up as the crowd laughed at his torment, lucky for him all the crowd could see was anger in his bright amethyst eyes instead of the humiliation of the bruised boy.

Another rock hit him in the eye and Yugi shook his head furiously to rid himself of the pain. He had long ago shut his lips tightly, cutting off any more painful whines which was disappointing to the bloodthirsty crowd.

Savagely, Anzu continued to mercilessly beat him with rocks, cruelty shining brightly in her brown eyes. Others had joined in long after the twin cubs had left with Joey and Atemu, yet there was still no sign of Tristan which was not helping Yugi's temper.

Joey had done a fine job of winding Yugi up and the rocks being thrown viciously without remorse at the teenage boy's head and body not only increased his humiliation but caused the anxiety to grow in the pit of his stomach, twisting and turning within his intestines.

Finally when Yugi thought he was going to pass out he realized the boy had left long ago and Yugi could have moved out of Anzu and her gang's range. Yet for some reason not known to Yugis blurry state of mind, he still sat there. His arms he could vaguely feel were behind him rather than angrily crossed against his chest like before. Weakly, he pulled at his arms and found that they were tied together.

As he weakly tried to pull his arms up to the center of his back he found that there was a resistance. Looking dazedly over his shoulders he saw that his paws were tied together and then tied to a peg in the ground, bound by thick twine.

_When did that happen, I wonder?_

Shaking his head to rid himself of the fuzziness that blurred his vision, he started pulling against the twine, feeling it slowly start to snap before a blinding pain stopped him.

"What is going on here?" Yugi heard someone shout, although he could not properly identify the voice, as he tried to succumb to the darkness but the noise was preventing him.

"N-n-nothing, sir." Someone stammered before he heard the scampering of paws upon the grassy earth.

He heard the thudding of feet moving swiftly towards him, before he felt paws on his shoulders.

"Yugi , look at me. Come on, look up. That's it, don't pass out cause you will have a major headache when you wake up, and we both know how much you hate headaches."

Yugi felt the werewolf's paws quickly untie the twine from his hands and slipping it back through the ring that was attached to the end of the peg which had been driven deep into the soil of the earth. He slowly moved his arms into his lap, but they felt like led pipes. He felt the werewolf that was crouched in front of him slowly rub feeling back into his numb and sore paws.

Yugi slowly began to rise and stumbled his way towards his tent, ripping his paws away from the unidentified werewolf, mumbling a, 'thank you but I am fine, I just need some sleep.'

To Yugi's annoyance though, the werewolf that had tasked himself with helping Yugi was still following him. Growling and snarling, Yugi pushed the other werewolf away from him before breaking into a run in the direction of the forest.

Yugi felt the wind in his fur and the exhilaration of running. The adrenaline pumping through his veins. It brought back memories of running from the unfortunate people of London who had been the unlucky victims to the thievery that had kept Yugi alive.

_Why, oh why, did that Werewolf have to follow me? _Yugi thought with increasing anger as he caught the scent of the werewolf on the wind and heard the soft thud – thud of his footpads on the forest floor.

_Why can he not just leave me alone? Is it not awful enough that I have let myself fall prey to those abominations that call themselves my pack brothers? Is it not horrible enough that I could not stop the humiliation on my own, but had to have another to stop it on my account? Has he no respect to leave me alone? I have thanked him already, what else does he want unless to further add to the already mortifying experience? _

_Does he wish to drive my humiliation so high, higher than the tallest mountain, so that I might wallow in misery before finally end it with a blade in my hand near the edge of the creak so as to relieve the pain caused by the mortal realm and float like a ghost in Hades realm? Is this what he wishes of me?_

_Well, I shall not do it for I am not weak. I shall live on no matter how hard it is and no matter what obstacles the gods throw in my paths. I will struggle through them and prevail and nothing shall hinder or deter me away from my path, for I shall not stray from it no matter the cost! And it shall not matter whether I am a monster or just an innocent boy. _

_I shall not take my life for the amusement of others. My misfortunes have been the sole entertainment for others. I will let them think that they have broken me. But nothing and I mean nothing can break me, for my soul is stronger than ten men put together. I have a will to live that will carry me to the edge of the earth and I will jump off that edge when I feel that I have lived a full and prosperous life, and nothing will stop me. _

_No amount of humiliation will block my path. For if it shall have the audacity to stand in my way, I will smash it down with a blow that no mortal man could accomplish. I WILL PREVAIL! For I shall break any and all restrains that these mortals dare to put on me! I SHALL BREAK THIS MORTAL TETHER!_

Panting, Yugi reached the edge of the stream, as far away from the werewolves' camp as he possibly could with his newly acquired injuries always on the forefront of his mind.

Yugi knelt down and gazed upon his reflection. In a fit of anger and resentment, he swiped with his claws at his reflection, breaking the clear image of himself before quickly scooping up the water and swallowing it down repeatedly.

He had long ago shaken the other wolf off of his tail. Though he knew that it was only a matter of time before the wolf picked up his scent, and would find where he was again.

Standing up and straining his ears in the near silent forest, Yugi listened intently for any sound that may give away the position of the other werewolf. But alas, all was quiet.

_Maybe the stupid werewolf has left? _

Although, it was a hopeful wish, it may or may not come true. Sighing, Yugi began trudging his way up the beaten path he had made in his mad rush all the way back to camp. Yugi enjoyed his slow walk back to the camp, taking in the sounds of the wild life of the forest and the fresh scents that were carried on the wind to his always sensitive nose.

Sighing again, Yugi sat down heavily on his meager pile of furs. He slowly transformed back into his human form.

Atemu, true to his word, had started to teach him how to transform into a werewolf. Atemu was a good teacher and had managed to get Yugi to transform with minimal pain but Yugi was more comfortable in his human form. He was not opposed to his werewolf form but he felt a bit safer in his human skin. After today's events, Yugi would rather be in his human form as he wallowed in his self-inflicted grief, granted it would only last for a few hours.

* * *

Atemu and Yugi were far along the road to friendship. They may not be best friends or as close as brothers, but they were still civil to one another and given time their current relationship may evolve to be that of brothers, or as werewolves say; pack brothers. If they ever went into a fight side by side, they would be then titled by pack law as brothers in arms. But it would be a long and a very bumpy path until that could be achieved by either werewolf.

Staring at the roof of his tent, he wondered if they would ever get that far or close at all. Rolling over in the dirt, he pulled the mangy fur over his shivering body to get as much warmth as possible. In the morning, he decided he would have to see either Asa or Joey about all of his newly acquainted injuries.


	19. Part Three Resignation Chapter 18

**Please Leave a Review**

* * *

Over the next few weeks, things did begin to change for Yugi. He no longer had lessons with Asa. Of course, those lessons had stopped awhile ago, and she had called him 'a lost cause'.

It didn't matter anymore though, because Atemu had continued where she had left off. Atemu had also formally introduced him to Joey, a werewolf that Yugi had met a couple of times. Joey was also human turned but hadn't been in the camp until recently. Apparently, he was in London searching for something. When asked by any of the pack they were given no answer.

Yugi still had archery practice with Tristan but Atemu came along as well now. Joey refused to go when asked because he said he was terrible and was likely to kill someone, so it was best that he just stick to medicine and herbs rather than weapons.

Yugi and Atemu became a lot closer during their lessons. Atemu also helped keep the others away from Yugi. Yugi could now fully transform into a werewolf and like the others he spent mostly all of his time in his werewolf form.

Yugi learned a lot about werewolves and didn't fear them as much as he used to. The dreams filled with blood stopped coming to haunt him as well, which was a big relief to him. Atemu felt the same when Yugi told him, joking that it was highly annoying and kept him up all night. But both knew that it had never really bothered or annoyed Atemu, it only worried him great amount.

Just as well, all of his recurring nightmares had decided to stop torturing him through the night, which was another bonus. Atemu learned much about the humans that he didn't know and as a result, grew to respect them rather than hate them just as Akunumkanon always wanted.

The three werewolves; Yugi, Atemu and Joey had become close, spending a lot of their days just lazing around and chatting happily with not a care in the world.

Today was such a day. Yugi stood under the shade of the trees on the outskirts of the camp. Atemu's shoulder brushed against his with Joey leaning against the base of the aspen tree sleeping as usual. Yugi guessed having a girlfriend was mentally too much for the poor werewolf, seeing as he's sleeping every other second of the day.

Yugi gazed out over the camp once more. Then he spotted her or more like it. For that is what she was to Yugi, an 'it'. Ever since Atemu started helping Yugi with his transformation, they had reached a better understanding of each other. Atemu had gained Yugi's respect and Yugi had gained Atemu's respect as well as the rest of the packs when they found out the true reason Yugi refused to change. Or rather his inability to change his form.

Yugi had not wanted to tell the pack at first, but Atemu insisted. Since Yugi trusted him, he let Atemu inform the elders of his disability, who in turn announced it to the rest of the pack, much to the embarrassment and annoyance of Yugi.

Anzu, on the other hand, wasn't so accepting of Yugi. Claiming that he 'stole her boyfriend', although later on Atemu admitted to Yugi that he hated her, Anzu loved making fun of Yugi's past fears.

If Atemu, Joey and the rest of the pack weren't there to give Yugi their acceptance and support, her harsh words would have hurt a lot more. Not that it still didn't hurt. He wasn't made of bricks after all.

Just as Yugi finished his musings, she came over to where the three werewolves were located. They had come here for a joint solitude. Apparently, Anzu didn't get the memo.

"What do you want Anzu?" Atemu questioned gruffly from Yugi's left.

"Atemu. Please, come talk to me. Please." She whined.

Yugi felt his ears twitch._ Ugh, it grates on my still very sensitive ears. _. Atemu must have seen it for he threw Yugi a sympathetic look.

"Why should I, Anzu ?" he asked, amusement clearly evident in his tone.

"Because... We used to mean so much to each other, Atemu."

Yugi looked over at Atemu who was trying hard not to laugh. Then down at Joey who had a permanent grimace fixed on his face marring those beautiful features.

_See how she brings out the ugliness in us. I really don't want us to end up like her. I mean she is ugly and she's making Joey ugly too. Soon I will follow and then Atemu. This just won't do. If he doesn't get rid of her, I will. Forcefully if it comes to that, which I hope it doesn't. I don't want to touch her. Eww._

"Um... No, we didn't mean a lot to each other... you just followed me around... a lot... I never even got to go to the bathroom in privacy with you around. Now I have privacy... some people like to do their business alone... without you around watching." He sounded so indignant Yugi couldn't stop the snort coming through his snout.

She turned, more like whirled, to face him. All the sweetness was wiped from her face, anger replacing any other emotion that she is capable of having

_Uh-oh, now you've done it. Great, you've got her attention. Umm, just look away and whistle. Pretend you are one with the tree. You are the tree. I am the tree. I am the tree. I am the tree._

"You!"

_Damn! It didn't work._

"Yes, me." Said Yugi slowly, as if speaking to a young child. This only seemed to anger her further

"UGH! You are nothing but vermin! You stand there all tall and mighty, because you finally stopped acting like a scared little kitten and managed to change into a mangy mutt. You're still vermin and always will be! You're weak and pathetic. You should be put down. They're only accepting you because they pity you. Remember vermin, you are a disgusting piece..."

_Well, that is harsh. Aw, my ear hurts. Jeez ,why does she scream like a frigging banshee? I'm not even standing all tall and mighty. I'm shorter than her! I am not a pureblood werewolf either so the kitten comment really doesn't bother me._

Anzu would have continued screeching at Yugi, nearly breaking his eardrums, _I think my ears are bleeding, _if it weren't for Atemu growling lowly in his throat. He took a step towards her and she took the hint and shut up and backed off.

"Run along to your mamma, little puppy." Atemu growled once more and she scampered away tail between her legs.

Yugi started lifting his paw to his head but Atemu turned towards him placing his paw to Yugi's very sore ear.

_Man, was she loud. Even Isabelle wasn't that annoying. Isabelle..._

Yugi felt an over whelming sadness as he thought of his little sister. When Atemu pulled his paw away, there was blood covering it. He wiped the blood off of his paw onto his leg. He glanced from Yugi to the smeared blood left over on his hand to the retreating form of Anzu, a frown on his face.

"Are you alright?" he questioned gently.

Yugi gave Atemu his best 'What do you think' look. Thankfully, he seemed to get the hint.

"Right. Obviously you are not alright. Um... I guess we should head to the lake and try to get the blood out." He looked down at Joey, intending to ask him if he wanted to come but low and behold- he was asleep.

"Well, I guess Joey doesn't want to come. How he slept through that, I'll never know. Are you going to transform or is it still painful?"

Yugi looked over at Atemu before lowering his head and pushing past him in the direction of the lake. "It is still sore and with my ears bleeding and ringing like this, I don't want to add on more pain. I'll just stay like this for now."

Atemu nodded and matched his pace to Yugi's.

_Man, why did Anzu have to scream so load. Even in my human form, she hurt my hearing but in my werewolf form? How come no one else seems to get bloody ears from her, why is it just me? Even Isabelle doesn't scream like that. I mean, she screamed loud, but not that loud or that screechy. Oh, Isabelle. How I miss you. I really would give anything just to see you one more time. Maybe I could. I can't live among your people anymore, but maybe I could see you and talk to you one more time. That's if you remember me. Maybe Atemu and I could go check out the catacombs in London. I've always been fascinated by those. Joey could come to. Maybe we could stop by at Oxford on the way._

So lost in thought was Yugi, that he didn't notice where he was going and stepped in a rotting log. Yugi didn't notice nor did Atemu that his foot was still caught in the rotting log until it was too late. Yugi fell face first, or snout first in this case, into the dirt, spraining his ankle in the process.

Yugi yelped out loud from the pain in his snout and ankle. Yelping wasn't such a good idea if Yugi's ears had anything to say about it. Yugi whimpered from the pain. Yugi's ears had stopped bleeding, but were now starting to bleed and hurt again from the loud noise.

Atemu was a few paces ahead of Yugi. When Atemu heard his yelp, he quickly turned around only to notice that Yugi was on the ground, ears bleeding, face covered with muck and leaves. Naturally, Atemu started to laugh.

"It hurts." Was what Yugi pathetically whined.

When Yugi whimpered again, Atemu stopped laughing and crouched down to Yugi's level. Atemu gently touched Yugi's ear only to have him whip his head away. With Yugi's head out of the way, Atemu got a clear look at Yugi's back paw stuck in the stupid log, so he went over to the stupid log and pulled Yugi's paw out.

Atemu, as gently as he could, poked and prodded at Yugi's swollen ankle. Yugi started thrashing around in Atemus grip trying to kick him away.

"Stop that, Yugi, unless you want it to get worse." He admonished.

Yugi then did the one thing that he had been doing for the past half hour. He whimpered. Atemu gently stroked Yugi's fur, much like you would do for a wounded animal.

"Well, I'll carry you to the lake where we'll wash out your ears and then I'll carry you back to your tent and we'll bandage up you ankle, 'cause it's definitely broken." So with that said, Atemu picked Yugi up, laughing at his feeble protests.

Now getting carried on someone's back isn't the greatest way to carry someone with a broken ankle. Not to mention there wasn't any kind of path to the lake so they were bushwhacking it to the lake. Yugi clung tighter to Atemu with every move or jostle that Atemu made. Atemu tried to be as careful as he possibly could, but either way it still hurt and aggravated him.

Finally, after what felt like forever to Yugi, they made it to the lake. The lake was surrounded by pine trees and the color of the water was crystal clear. It was beautiful.

Yugi really didn't want to have any water go in them, but Atemu being Atemu would leave no room for argument. Atemu did everything his way and right now Yugi didn't think Atemu would give him an option like he usually does. It's times like these that Yugi really hated him.

The only thought running through Yugi's head as he gazed at the Lake was 'beautiful.'

For that was what this lake was, so beautiful it was breathtaking. The lake was a sparkling, clear blue with trees surrounding it and tall grass and weeping willows near the edge of the water. If Yugi squinted his eyes, he could see a family of ducks near the south side and two swans near the east. As they reached the edge of the lake, Atemu slowly lowered Yugi onto the driest part of the bank they could find.

Atemu then proceeded to wash out Yugi's ears, ignoring his protesting, saying that if he didn't 'it would dry up and he would have to pick it out and that would hurt a lot more.' He also put cold water on Yugi's ankle to soothe it and stop the swelling. He then hefted Yugi on his back once more and the two young werewolves began the long, rough journey back to camp.

On their way through the camp, they got curious glances. Some of the wolves tried to approach them, most likely wanting to ask why in Hyades gates Atemu was carrying Yugi on his back and why there was dried blood on his neck and why his ears were wet and so on. But one sharp look from Atemu and they went back to whatever they were doing.

Yugi could see that Anzu was just itching to come and make another snide comment, but she just stayed back not wanting to push her luck with Atemu further than need be. Instead, she just watched with sharp narrowed eyes examining Yugi and Atemu like insects, she was probably filing away the information for later.

Finally, Yugi and Atemu made it across camp without any incidents. Atemu's tent was closer and he didn't want to carry Yugi all the way to the other end of the camp. Plus, he was closer to the healer's tent, Asa's, so it made sense that they go to his tent.

Atemu deposited him on his bed of furs, exiting the tent saying he was going to ask Asa for some bandages. A few seconds later, Joey came in looking at Yugi curiously, then without warning a smirk broke out across his face.

"Aw. Did da little puppy get hurt?" He laughed.

Yugi, in response, threw a rock at him, watching in amusement as it bounced off of his head. Where Yugi got the rock, we will never know.

"Eck! That was uncalled for." He sniffed, turning his nose up in the air haughtily. "Any way, what happened to you? I see that there is blood on your neck and why is your leg stretched out like that?"

So Yugi told him about Anzu making his ears bleed, about how much it hurt and about stepping in the rotten log and breaking his ankle. Joey laughed when hearing about the rotten log incident.

"You would have seen it firsthand had you been there."

"Yugi, werewolves are very aware of their surroundings. We don't step _in _logs, we step _over_ them. Man, you are going to give werewolves a bad name. So clumsy. How can you be so clumsy?" laughed Joey

Yugi scowled at him, not in the least bit amused. In fact, he looked like he was about to strangle Joey, broken ankle be damned.

"Oh, shut up and leave him alone, Joey." Atemu said, coming through the tent flap and crouching down near Yugi's paw.

"Oh fine, ruin my fun. But I will never understand how you can't miss the log. Atemu did. You really are clumsy." He laughed before leaving.

Yugi threw another rock at him, smirking in satisfaction as he heard Joey's yelp. Atemu shook his head at Yugi's crazy antics. Amusement and laughter sparked in his crimson eyes before he looked back down at what he was doing.

"Normally, Joey would be doing this. Unfortunately or fortunately, however you wish to look at it, he's too busy laughing at you to focus on anything besides making fun of you."

Atemu was mashing some herbs together to make a salve to spread across Yugi's ankle before he put the bandages on. When Atemu put the salve on, Yugi nearly jumped it was so cold. Atemu then tightly wrapped the bandages over the salve and his ankle. Yugi winced.

Atemu briefly looked up at Yugi. "I know it's tight, but that's the only way it will heal properly. How are your ears?"

"Still sore, but not as bad as before. They are still sensitive though." He said softly.

Yugi clenched his teeth when Atemu tied off the bandages. Yugi could feel his paw going numb. He groaned before laying back and resting his head on the furs, placing his arm across his eyes.

"You won't be able to change back to your human form for awhile. Well, you could but it would hurt like hell, so I wouldn't try it." Yugi nodded, still hiding his face in embarrassment. Joey just added to his embarrassment.

_Joey's right. Werewolves are always aware of their surroundings. I shouldn't have gotten distracted by thoughts of Isabelle. No matter how much I miss her. I will never see her again. She probably thought I abandoned her. Besides, I never thought of her this much in London, probably because I was too busy trying to stay alive and avoid the city guards._

"Who thinks you abandoned them?" Atemu asked quietly.

Yugi hadn't even realized that he had spoken out loud. "Isabelle, my little sister. We were the only survivors on the attack at Exeter. I took her to our aunt and uncle's, then I left."

"Oh." He then paused and hesitantly asked. "Why did you leave?"

Yugi propped himself up on his elbows and looked Atemu straight in the eye.

"I wanted revenge on the man who killed and tortured my family. I wanted the man who ordered the attack to pay for what he did to the people of Exeter." He lowered his head, gazing at Atemu's hunting bow."I had to leave because people knew my face, but Isabelle… No one knew that she even existed except the people of Exeter, and, well, they're all dead. My family had been marked as criminals. Staying there, I would only endangered them, because someone could let something slip for a few gold coins. So I left to seek revenge and to grant them safety and peace of mind." Yugi said honestly.

Atemu looked at his face and they held each other's gazes for a long time, Atemu searching for something and Yugi willing him to understand and not hate him for wanting revenge.

"The pain is still fresh. You were thinking of them back in the woods. That is why you weren't paying attention." said Atemu, tearing his gaze away from Yugi to finish rolling the bandages up. "Maybe if you talked about it to someone, then it wouldn't be so painful, or distracting."

Atemu was not ordering Yugi, or specifically asking, Yugi to tell him. He just wanted Yugi to tell someone and so he did. Yugi told Atemu everything about the attack on Exeter, how he killed those two men, about living as a peasant and slave to the baker. About the beatings he received and the guards he tried to evade, as well as his fascination about the catacombs of London.

Yugi told him everything that he had kept bottled up inside and it felt good for Yugi to finally tell someone, to finally get it off of his chest. Atemu was a good listener. He never interrupted and he didn't judge.

When Yugi had finished his tale, he was close to letting his tears fall. Tears he had refused to acknowledge, tears that he had refused to let fall. Yugi just wanted to curl up and cry. Atemu must have noticed for he left, saying that he was going to go get them some food.

As soon as the tent flaps fluttered shut, Yugi curled up and cried. He let everything out. He didn't care anymore, it hurt so much. Everything hurt.

Yugi was so caught up in his emotions and crying that he didn't notice when Atemu returned. He didn't hear the bowls placed on the floor, but Yugi did feel when Atemu drew him up into a hug, rocking him back and forth.

* * *

Atemu looked down at the sleeping boy in his lap. Yugi had cried himself to sleep. Not out of pain from his broken ankle, he was tougher than that, but from emotional strain.

Everything was slowly catching up with Yugi. He was strong, Atemu knew that, but never had he seen him so close to breaking as he had witnessed today. Hopefully, this will help him heal.

Atemu had noticed earlier that Yugi had looked close to breaking point. Not knowing what to do, he had left with the excuse of getting food. He had hoped that it would take him long enough that, by the time he returned, Yugi would be alright again, but that was not so.

When Atemu returned back to the ten,t he was curled up on the furs, crying all of his sorrows away. All the emotions he had kept bottled up inside for so long, slowly leaking out with his tears.

Atemu, not good with emotional people and not knowing how to comfort his crying friend, did what he often saw mothers do with their cubs when they awoke from a nightmare. Atemu drew him up into his arms, embracing Yugi tightly to offer him what little comfort he could. Atemu rocked him back and forth, hoping that Yugi would realize that he was there for him, that he was his friend and would not leave his side.

Yugi continued crying; he cried for a long time and ended up crying himself to sleep still in Atemu's arms. Yugi was lulled by the rocking, the warmth he felt in Atemu's embrace and how emotionally drained he was.

That night Yugi slept peacefully never once haunted by his family's dead bodies or the dreams of pain, torture and blood. Yugi had never been so glad to have friends as he was that night


	20. Part Three Resignation Chapter 19

Once again like to thank phantomworks for putting up with my long obnoxious chapter editing. Review! :)

* * *

Yugi, Joey and Atemu were seated around the edge of the lake. By now, Yugi's ankle had healed and he was a lot less sensitive in his werewolf form.

Yugi transformed back into his human form and leaned closer to the water, ignoring the looks from his companions. Silently, he looked at his reflection, gazing into his amethyst eyes that had become jaded over this past year, tracing the three scars on his check. He looked at the others, his hand dropped lifelessly to his side.

"I want to go to London."

"What? Why?" Atemu asked, his brow furrowing.

"I want to see the catacombs."

"The catacombs." Joey stated incredulously.

"Yes, isn't that what I just said? I want to go see them. Now."

"As in right now?" Atemu asked surprised.

"Yes, as in right now." Yugi said, getting up and heading back to camp the others trotting after him. "I'm going now. Are you two coming or not?"

"Um, yeah, I guess I'll go with you." Atemu said.

"Wel,l someone has to make sure you two idiots don't fall on flat on your faces." Joey joked, mischief shining in his honey colored eyes.

Soon, the three of them reached the edges of camp, backpacks weighed down with food and weapons and all other manner of things that they would need on this new adventure of theirs. Tristan stepped into their view, blocking their way towards civilization and London.

"And just where do you three think you're going?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"London."

He looked sharply at Jeoy.

"You think the information is there?"

"Not sure." He replied, shrugging his shoulders, "I haven't gone that far, but I will check it out will we are there."

"Fine. Go then."

"What was that about?" Yugi asked when Tristan was gone from view.

"Part of why I wasn't here when you first arrived at camp. The elders believe that there is history of our kind buried underneath a city somewhere."

Yugi shook his head and continued walking away from camp. He had long since learned that there were some things that were just best left alone. He turned away from the place he had called home and headed in the direction of London with his two companions following silently behind him. He just hoped he wouldn't run into Vivian again or Bakura.

After a hard day's trek and over a bowl of gruel, Yugi started up a conversation.

"So Tristan mentioned that the werewolf that bit me is named Bakura, know anything about him?"

Joeys head shot up and Atemu choked on his water, spraying it accidently all over the fire and a very unfortunate Joey. After he calmed down he graced Yugi with an answer.

"Yes."

"Care to share?"

"He was a werewolf very close to me. His mother was murdered by humans out of fear and his brother was murdered as well. He never forgave the humans. He vowed to kill every human he met. He was eventually kicked out of the pack when he would not change his ways and kept hunting humans. A few other werewolves followed him."

"How did his mother and brother die?" Yugi asked genuinely curious. After all, it was only fair that he should know something about the man who turned him, to try to understand him a bit.

This time Joey answered Yugi. "His mother was attacked by humans when she was taking her child, Bakura's younger brother, out for a walk. The child was just a baby. Well, the humans found her and they killed her viciously and then they strung her up between two trees. They skinned her fur off and left it at the base of the tree. Bakura saw this and went into a rage. The body of his little brother was never found so we all assumed that he was dead after spending years of searching with no results."

"Every year, Bakura became increasingly bitter and secluded himself from the rest of the pack. He became insane with rage and eventually left the pack and swore vengeance on every human. He has killed every one in his path in a similar manner to your friend." Atemu finished sadly.

"So why did he leave me alive?"

"I don't know. He has never left anyone alive before." Atemu shook his head sadly.

"I felt something watching me since the first day I left Exeter."

"Since you left Exeter!" Atemu asked in alarm.

"Yes." Yugi said calmly.

Joey decided he didn't want to get involved in the conversation so he continued eating.

"And he didn't attack you?"

"No. Not until I was travelling to York with a friend."

"But you said you travelled a lot on your own. Why did he only attack you when you traveled to York?"

"I don't know, do I? That is why I'm talking to you about it." Yugi said frustrated.

"Why were you going to York?" Joey asked quietly.

"To look for Akefia."

"Akefia? Who's that?" Atemu asked.

"The man rumoured to have placed the attack on Exeter."

"And you said his name was Akefia?" Joey said, his eyes widening with horror and understanding.

"What are you not telling us Joey? What have you figured out?" asked Atemu.

"Please share with the rest of us."

"Akefia was what Bakura called himself when he was in his human form. When he was exiled, he got himself in with the humans, calling himself Akefia. Only a man with power could order the damnation of an entire city. Bakura had that power, being the king's second in command."

"That's why you were attacked." Atemu realized. "Once you decided to go after him, he wanted to prevent that, then take you under his wing and make you resent humans."

"But he didn't count on me being taken by you guys?"

"Exactly."

"So what happens now?" Joey asked.

"He'll be in London. We continue to look for that history and then try to find out where he is hiding out. Although, I have a pretty good idea on where he is." Yugi said, gazing at the fire.

"How do you know he will be in London? How do you know where he is hiding?" Joey asked.

"When humans get bit they have a connection to the ones that turned them. They can understand them better than anyone." answered Atemu. "You would have felt the same to the one that bit you, Joey, if he wasn't dead."

"Let's get some sleep." Joey said.

A couple days later, we find the three boys eating around yet another campfire a little closer to London.

"So, Joey." Yugi said boldly.

Yugi was a curious boy. Regardless of his age, he would always be curious no matter how old he was, and he had a question that had been running through his head for months. Finally, he had reached his breaking point. He needed to know the answer.

Yugi had a question, a question that sorely needed to be answered. Tonight was the night that he had at last worked up the courage to finally ask the question that had been eating him inside-out.

"Yeah?" Joey said confused, looking up from the deer he had caught.

"You're a human turned werewolf like me, correct?"

Now even Atemu raised his head. Usually Atemu didn't pay attention to the conversations of others unless it involved him, but this topic had gained, even the great stoic Atemu's interest. He hoped that Yugi was going to ask what he desperately wanted to know.

_Knowing Yugi, he probably will._ Atemu thought to himself snorting quietly so that the other two could not hear him.

"Yeah..." Joey said cautiously, slowly raising himself in a cross legged position on his bedroll.

"I...well... I have always been curious as to...well, how did _you _get turned?" said Yugi haltingly.

He was about to just stop halfway through, but he had already started and his desperation for knowing drove him foreword.

By the dark and stormy expression on Joey's face, they had entered into dangerous territory. The subject was obviously sensitive to Joey, but Yugi wouldn't back down. Joey knew this and so did Atemu. Joey resigned himself to a very uncomfortable topic and a very long conversation.

"Make yourselves comfortable. It's gunna be a long story." He said dejectedly.

Normally, Joey wouldn't tell anyone, and he hadn't for years. Tonight was different. The people asking were different. They were his friends and he felt that he owed it to Yugi. Yugi had been through pretty much the same experience as he. Maybe this would help console Yugi. Show him that he's not the only one who has been betrayed by family and friends. Maybe revealing a bit of his past would grant Yugi and himself peace of mind.


	21. Part Three Resignation Chapter 20

**I hope you like, please leave me a comment on what you think :)**

* * *

Joey waited while Atemu and Yugi settled themselves closer to him and laid down on the ground across from Joey, unconscious of the dirt and bugs.

"It was 6 years ago...

_"Joey!" a young teenage girl called._

_Joey bounded up to her, with a smile brighter than the sun on his face. He hugged her tightly to his chest before presenting her with the bundle of flowers he had picked earlier for her._

_"For you, gracious Mai. You mean the world to me. Ever since your mother took me into her home and you accepted me with open arms after my parent's death. My affections have only grown and I am in love with you. I know I tell you every day and I will never stop."_

_Mai took the flowers and turned away from Joey, hiding her face in the bundle of flowers, smelling them._

_"They are beautiful Joey. I love you as well." _

_He smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "What did you call for?"_

_She turned and started walking into the small house beckoning him to follow, her skirts fluttering in the playful spring breeze._

_"I was wondering if you could make some healing poultices for me."_

_Joeys smile was immediately wiped from his face. "You know I won't, not after... not after Adina, your mother. I vowed never again."_

_"Please. Joey. You're the best healer in this village. The man needs your help. He's suffering Joey." She pleaded with him. "You know I would not ask this of you if it was not important to me!"_

_Joey looked away for he could not meet her pleading gaze. Mai would have none of it and latched onto his arm silently begging him._

_"What is he suffering from?" he asked after a long time of thinking._

_"A broken leg." She said quietly._

_Joey's brows furrowed together. Joey prided himself on knowing everything about this small village. Why would this man be suffering from a broken leg? There was nothing that could have caused such an injury. He would have been informed by the man's family or the man himself. He had seen every man and women of the village this fine day and no one had a broken leg._

_"How long?" he asked instead._

_"He doesn't live in the village."_

_Joey chose not to question why Mai was changing the topic and instead decided to humor her._

_"How'd he come by such an injury?"_

_"He heard the commotion when your parents were murdered. He tried to help and he was injured in the process."_

_"Why did he not confront me...or you for that matter?" he said angrily._

_"He was afraid of your reaction and so was I! We were afraid that you would blame him for the murder!"_

_Joey tried to reign in his temper. Lucky for Mai, he was succeeding and no longer felt the need to throw something like an irritable child._

_"Let me take a look at him. In the meantime, gather the necessary equipment. You remember, don't you?"_

_"Yes." She said, her face lighting up with happiness. _

_It made Joey smile as she bounced around the house, finding the right equipment that he would need. Regretfully, Joey began to walk in the direction that Mai had pointed him in. _

_Joey passed by all the villagers wishing him good morning and curious children asking where he was going and what he was doing. When Joey replied that he was going to help heal a man, the villagers cheered and their cheers grew louder when he announced that he was going to renounce his vow of never healing again._

_Joey smiled at the villagers as he walked towards the hut of the injured man. As Jason neared the hut, an old man approached him. His name was Sugoroku, if Joey recalled correctly. He was a seer they said and the villagers were torn between respecting and mistrusting him._

_Sugoroku had first started having visions when he was 16, they say. He was a quiet type, kept mostly to himself. If he approached you they say you should listen to him and heed his warnings, no matter how doubtful they may be._

_"Hello, Sugoroku." Joey said respectfully._

_Joey was one of the few people in the village that respected Sugoroku. Joey had never heard a prophecy from Sugoroku about him but Joey had learned basic healing from Sugoroku and trusted the kind old man._

_"Hello, Joey. These are grim days indeed."_

_"What do you mean, Sugoroku?"_

_Sugoroku beckoned that Joey follow him towards the direction of the small river below the village. Joey followed slightly behind the old man._

_"I had a vision a few moon cycles ago about you. I had hoped it was not true. But alas it was. It was a dark and blurry vision. I saw a house attacked by a man with dark green eyes and he was missing his right ring finger. In the vision, he killed a man and his wife and their small child. In the background a man screamed as if he had lost everything. Then everything faded to black and there was the full moon and a wolf silhouetted against it. The wolf approached the green eyed man and bit him on his left leg. The wolf's jaws were strong, stronger than any normal wolf's and broke the man's leg. Then I awoke."_

_Joey stopped and looked Sugoroku hard in the eyes, searching for signs of deceit but only the man's honesty was reflected back at him. _

_"But...how do you know that the dream was about me?"_

_"I know it was you. A greater force than we realize is protecting you, child, I have seen a wolf at nights watching from the forest, always watching. Do you know, Joey, what that creature was watching?"_

_Joey mutely shook his head. _

_"That wolf was watching you, protecting you. The same wolf in my dreams sits, every night watching you from the forest. In this particular dream, it avenged your family's murderer."_

_Joey looked down at the ground, then in the direction of the forest. Joey thought hard on everything that Sugoroku had said._

_"If it avenged my family's killer, wouldn't it have killed it? Not break his leg?"_

_"There is a mystery here, Joey. The wolf wants you to get to the bottom of it."_

_Joey nodded his head. "I guess...I am sorry, Sugoroku, but I must go. I have an injured man to heal."_

_"I know." Sugoroku said, nodding his head solemnly. "Be cautious Joey. The man is a viper, full of venom. Take this. And be careful Joey, I see a death approaching you. It will hit you heavily in the future."_

_Joey nodded to Sugoroku, taking the satchel offered before walking back in the direction of the injured man's hut, thinking back on everything Sugoroku had just told him. Sugoroku never spoke much, for him to reveal so much must mean that this is important._

_Joey knocked on the wooden door but received no answer. Sugoroku's warnings ringing in his ears, Joey slowly opened the door and walked into the hut. It was small and empty save for a bed. _

_Mai was already there with the necessary equipment. She seemed to not notice Joey's presence. She appeared to be conversing quietly with the man on the bed._

_Joey cleared his throat, startling the two of them. He made his way over to the equipment and began to prepare the poultice needed to spread on the leg. Joey took a look at his patient and noticed that he had green eyes. Joey started to wonder if what Sugoroku had said was true. Shaking the thoughts away, he asked the man to hold the bandages. The man lifted his right hand holding the bandages in place._

_Joey turned away and finished the poultice. He lifted the man's pant leg above the wound. As Joey spread the concoction over the wound, he noticed faint teeth marks on the man's leg. Taking the bandages from the green eyed man, he noticed that he was missing his ring finger. _

_Breath hitching in his throat, Joey willed his hands to be still. Joey finished healing the man as fast as he could without seeming suspicious. _

_When Joey exited the hut, he noticed that Mai was not with him. He turned around, intending to ask if she would help him bring back his equipment. Joey opened the door, what he saw broke his heart._

_Mai was straddling the green eyed man and kissing him for all she was worth. In anger, Joey punched a hole through the door. Joey expected Mai to stutter and stammer excuses but she did not._

_Slowly, she rose from the bed and faced Joey. Her eyes were cold and her mouth was smirking. _

_"Why?" he shouted at her. Pain was wrenching at his already shattered heart._

_"Because, I hate you, Joey. I always have! You killed my mother and your family was still alive!" she screamed._

_Sugoroku's words once again rang through his head and the dream that had been told to him. _

_"So you got your lover here to kill them? You killed my family because the fates decided that your mother's time was up?"_

_"You killed her! Not God! Not the fates! You should have died that night along with your family too!" _

_He shook his head. He wanted so bad to kill her, poison her food, stab her, anything! But he wouldn't stoop as low as her. _

_Instead, Joey went over to the green eyed man, shoving Mai out of the way when she attempted to block the way. He viciously ripped off the bandages, making the man scream. He placed his hand on the wound and pressed down hard he took a jar of salt and dumped it on the wound ignoring the man's screams. _

_Then he re-broke the man's leg. He looked into the green eyes of his family's killer and smirked. Joey looked in the satchel that Sugorku had given him and found a flask. _

_Joey now understood what Sugoroku had meant by the man being filled with venom. He wasn't referring to the man actually acting like a snake but dying by snake venom, being feed venom. Joey grabbed the back of the man's head. _

_He forced the snake venom into the man's mouth, plugging his nose and forcing him to swallow. Joey threw the man's head away from him as if it was poisonous. Smiling with satisfaction, he walked out of the hut, ignoring Mai's frantic cries._

_All that Joey had to do was wait for nightfall and see if this wolf actually existed. _

_Come nightfall, Joey looked in the direction that Sugoroku had pointed to earlier that day. There, shining in the moonlight, sat a large wolf. Without fear or hesitation, Joey approached the wolf._

_Joey slowly lowered himself to the ground next to the wolf. Joey looked over at the wolf. His eyes widened in surprise as the wolf slowly transformed into a young girl. The girl smiled at Joey._

_"Hello Joey."_

_"He-hello." Joey stuttered still in shock._

_The girl laughed quietly into the night air. "The transformation has this affect on many humans. Do not be embarrassed when you regain your wits, what little you have that is."_

_Joey could only stare at the girl in mute shock as she got up and transformed back into the large white wolf that Joey had seen earlier. He watched as the wolf trotted into the forest, tail waving back and forth. _

_Curiosity consumed Joey. He too got up and went into the forest, following the excited wolf at a slower pace, trying to regain his wits._

_The wolf came to a stop in the center of the clearing. They had taken so many twists and turns that Joey couldn't find his way out of the forest even if his life depended on it, which it might sooner or later._

_The girl once again transformed and beckoned Joey to come closer. Joey slowly approached the werewolf and sat down across from her._

_"Tonight you shall meet one more werewolf. She will give you a choice, a choice that not many humans are allowed to make, or given for that matter. Most humans are forced. Treat her with respect."_

_Joey nodded his head thinking on what the girl had just told him. What choice would he be given? What was this girl talking about?_

_After a few minutes of waiting in complete silence, an old women entered the clearing and stood beside Joey._

_"Rise, young one." she spoke quietly. "You have suffered much heart break. The woman you loved betrayed you and killed your family. We have watched you for many a night. You have a talent, young one. Do you know what this talent is?"_

_"It is my healing, is it not?"_

_"Yes, I, too, know heart break, and I too am a healer. I believe you know a man named Sugoroku?"_

_"Yes," Joey answered hesitantly, wondering where she was going with this._

_The old women smiled sadly, "Yes, I grew up in this village not too long ago. Of course, you were naught but a babe. I loved him and I still do as a matter of fact. Unfortunately, I was bit by a wolf when I was younger. Everyone thought I was dead and Sugoroku, he fell in love with another while I was gone."_

_"I-I am sorry."_

_"Don't be child. Tonight I grant you the choice at another life."_

_"The life of a werewolf you mean?" _

_"Yes. A chance to forget this tragedy and find a new family and new love. You will gain a caring family with the werewolves."_

_The werewolf that Joey had seen earlier transformed into a human and stood beside the old woman. Her eyes turned to Joey and Joey could see that they were silently begging for him to accept this offer. And Joey must admit that it was an offer that he found hard to say no too. _

_Slowly, Joey nodded his head, "Yes. Yes, I will accept what you offer me."_

_The old women smiled and the girl instantly cheered and paraded around in a circle, clapping her hands merrily._

_"I will be the one turning you. It will hurt, I won't lie. You'll pass out as your blood changes. The werewolf venom changes you so you won't feel that, but in order to change you I must bite you."_

_"I would rather have the name of the one that bite me, if you don't mind."_

_The girl's eyes widened in shock. "Oh, how could I be so rude? How could I have forgotten to tell you my name? Any way my name is Serenity."_

_That night Joey severed all ties to his old human life. The three of them faked Joey's death and he left with them to join their pack. As they traveled, he found out the old woman's name was Asa and that Serenity had a sister named Anzu.'_

"Come, it'll a long day tomorrow and we should get some rest. I'll wake us up at dawn." Joey said


	22. Part Three Resignation Chapter 21

**Hope you like this chapter, please leave a once more thanks to my lovely beta phantomworks**

* * *

They took turns throughout the night taking watch and Joey, true to his word, woke them up at the same time the sun was peaking over the horizon. They continued on, not stopping once until they saw the gates outside of London.

"Why are there so many people?" Yugi asked. "There aren't this many usually."

"How would you know?" Jeoy asked, whipping his head towards Yugi.

"I lived here as a street rat. Remember?"

"I don't know. Maybe a parade or a celebration?" Atemu said, bringing them back to the situation at hand.

"Well, why don't we follow them and go find out?" Joey suggested, already transforming and following the line of humans.

The humans were bunched up along the main street as a noble family with servants and guards following behind them.

"That's my aunt and Uncle and Isabelle too." Yugi whispered brokenly. "She looks so beautiful, and her hair. It's so long now. I can't believe shes grown so much. And I wasn't there to see it."

Yugi tried to lunge out onto the street to hug his sister but Joey and Atemu held him back. Eventually, Yugi calmed down and made his way through the crowded street into a back alley.

"Come on, let's go find the catacombs." Yugi said, swallowing back his disappointment.

After an hour of searching, they finally managed to find the entrance. Going down, they felt the air get moist. Cobwebs were all over the place as well as skulls that seemed to grin up at Yugi with empty eye sockets.

They searched the catacombs for any signs of werewolves. Yugi had given up hope of finding any signs of werewolves, but he did find an awesome dagger.

"Hey, look over here. Three claw marks like on Yugi's face."

Yugi scowled as Atemu grabbed his face and placed it next to the marks on the stone.

"By Jove, your right!" He exclaimed.

"By Jove?" Yugi asked with a raised eyebrow, not that Atemu could see it with his face pressed against the stone.

"Sorry, I've been spending too much time around Tristan."

Joey snorted while Yugi rolled his eyes.

"Hey, they continue down the tunnel. Maybe if we follow them, we will find these document things." Yugi said, forcing his head out of Atemu's grasp.

* * *

The three werewolves stopped at a large metal door made of silver.

"How are we supposed to open it if it's made of silver?" Atemu asked scratching his head.

Joey shrugged. "Maybe we could push Yugi's face up against it?" He smirked.

"Oh ha-ha. You're hilarious, but I don't thi... Hey!" Yugi was rudely cut off as Joey grabbed his head.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Atemu alarmed, vainly trying to pull Joey back by his shoulders as Joey pressed Yugi's muzzle against the silver.

Yugi screamed for all he was worth as the silver burnt deeply into his face. The metal door opened and Joey released him. Atemu immediatley ran over to Yugi's side, glaring viciously at Joey as he helped Yugi to his feet.

"What, it worked, didn't it?" he questioned shrugging his shoulders.

Yugi saw Atemu's eyes widen to little round saucers, like the saucers for tea cups back in Exeter, before narrowing dangerously. A low growl started to form within Atemu's chest, claws flexing in anticipation of ripping flesh from bone. Gently ,Yugi pushed Atemu's paw away from his face.

Yugi's face wasn't even scratched. The silver should have burnt him, but there wasn't even a mark. Atemu gasped, backing away slightly. The pain left Yugi as swiftly as it came and he looked at his reflection in the door, cringing at the thought of having half his face burnt off. Instead, he saw a flawless werewolf face. Well, apart from the three scars, courtesy of Bakura.

"I..."

"Even though it worked and he isn't hurt, you shouldn't have done that Joey! He could have had his face burnt off." Atemu rounded angrily on Joey, shock vanishing just as quick as it had come.

"Come on, he's fine. Any way, don't you want to see our history? " Joey asked, practically bouncing with excitement. "Don't you want to see what lies beyond the door way?"

"Fine. You alright Yugi?"

"Yeah. Yeah fine." Yugi said, recovering from his shock and following after Joey. "Let's go check out what's behind the door."

What they found was something that none of them had expected. The bookshelves where made of pure silver with books made of gold inlaid with silver engravings and text or vice versa.

There were statues dedicated to different gods and goddesses of different religions. The room was huge. There were statues of werewolves fitted in their battle armor that had been worn frequently long ago. Weapons littered the walls and shields lined the floor. Murals of werewolves standing on cliffs or at the edges of lakes, howling at the moon, decorated the walls.

Joey was anxious to read the books. He tried to open them but jumped back in shock examining his burnt paw. He looked at Yugi, pleading him to open it. Rolling his eyes, Yugi went over and opened the book for him, ignoring the feeling of his paw being burnt off. Besides, the feeling wasn't that bad after you get used to it.

Yugi had discovered that the pain left after a few seconds, even if he continued to hold an object made of silver. So he wasn't that upset about touching the silver for Joey.

The book talked about how werewolves first came to be. About how they were the guardians of humans as well as how the humans turned on the werewolves and a great war took place and forced the werewolves back into hiding.

Other books talked about pureblood werewolves and human turned werewolves and what would happen if a werewolf had a child with a human. Apparently, if it was a pureblood werewolf that had a child with another pureblood, the child would be like a human born with the abilities of the werewolf. But if a werewolf like Tristan had a child with another werewolf, it did not matter whether it was a pureblood werewolf or not, the child would remain a human, as long as one of the parents were a human turned werewolf, and would have to be bitten by a werewolf at their choosing to inherit the abilities of a werewolf.

Also, it talked about the werewolves' immortality. According to these long ago written recordings of their history, werewolves were like vampires. They were immortal. Only the pureblood werewolves can age and they can stop and start ageing at any time.

The turned werewolves on the other hand are exactly like vampires. Werewolves, as a whole, do not suffer from illness that would affect mortals. They are immune to human illness once they are turned or born into the werewolf abilities. They cannot die unless they are burnt, stabbed through the heart with a stake or silver enters their body or blood stream.

"Well, fancy that Yugi, we're immortal." Joey broke off laughing, "No wonder I haven't aged, and here I thought I was going crazy!"

"Hey! Come over here! In this text, it describes a place not far from here. Apparently, an old battle took place there! Would you two be up for going to check it out? Maybe we will find more information!" Atemu asked excitedly, like a five year old boy on Christmas day.

"Well." Yugi started. "Why not? We have nothing to lose, nor do we have anything better to do." He laughed.

They both turned to Joey begging him to come with them. Finally after hours of pleading and begging, Joey finally consented to come with them on what he called an insane and pointless journey that would most likely kill them.


	23. Part Three Resignation Chapter 22

**Would like to thank phantomworks who is amazing :D**

**Don't forget to leave a review and cast a vote. Information for upcoming stories and deviantart can be found on my profile. Check it out :)**

* * *

As the three travelled, they passed taverns littered across the dangerous and lonely road to London as well as churches that had been scattered across the land so all those weary travellers could stop in and pray to god to grant them safe passage to their destination.

"Let's stop in." Yugi brazenly said.

Yugi's two travelling companions stopped dead in their tracks, swiveling their heads at an inhuman speed to face him, both bearing incredulous looks on their sharp, human features.

"What!" Came forth their shocked outburst from numbed lips.

"You heard me. We are evil creatures, are we not? We go against all that God stands for and created. Do we not go against the will of God? For we are devils in our own way, we are Satan's children, the children of a devil, of a Daemon. We, who are the children of darkness, was it not the moon that made us what we are, so are we not daemons?" He asked, turning towards them with glittering eyes. "Are we not demons of the dark and terrible night? Horrible monsters that kill children and eat women's babies and revel in their mothers anguished screams? Should we not then be struck down as soon as we enter that church, God's domain? "

"You're insane!" Joey said, shaking his head in amazement.

"Insane or not, does it really matter? For all of us wish to know the answer. None of our kind have ever tried. So shall we not try what has never been done? Don't you want to see if we can go over the boundaries? Do we, the children of the dark, not deserve to see, to know, whether or not we shall be struck down by lightning like all those abominations that taint the name of God? Come on, Joey, Atemu! Let's be the first to prove that God has no control over us. That God plays no part in the roles of all manner of creatures!"

They stood there, staring at each other trying to win some silent battle. Finally, Joey voiced his consent to Yugi's crazy idea and Atemu gave a firm nod, signifying that he would go along with it.

Hesitantly, they walked up the steps of the Church, gazing up at the cross held up high above the church's roof, a symbol of pride for all to see. Yugi held out his paw which slowly turned into that of a humans hand_._

_A cruel mockery of what I once was, _he thought to himself.

_No wonder humans think we are abominations. We have the power to deceive these foolish humans by looking exactly like them. In an instant, we can shift our form and kill them, and none except those that witness this cruel deed shall ever know. _

Yugi fearlessly pushed open the church doors and began the first hesitant steps inside the church which soon became long swift steps one after the other without pause.

Standing within the centre of the church, in the middle of the rows of benches waiting for travelers to sit their weary behinds and pray to God, Yugi turned to the others with a grin upon his soft pink lips.

"It looks like we are not, as the Bible says, horrendous abominations that are the children of the devil placed on this earth to do his bidding and should be struck down by God. " He whispered softly so that the priest would not hear him.

Yugi really did not want to answer unwelcome questions. Not to mention, he did not want the priest to think that he had some evil demon spirit possessing him and have to undergo an exorcism. Quickly and silently, before the priests of the church could notice their existence within their treasured church, they left quicker than they had come.

They laughed with pure joy as they walked, shoulder to shoulder down the dusty path, at how blind God was to not strike them down. They should have been struck down for their blatant disregard of such a holy place. They laughed as they realized that God had no power over them, that maybe he did not exist as other silly mortals reverently believed. Like a horde of sheep, they followed each other and did as the other did. Whether it be fashion or religion, it seemed it had no meaning on whether they agreed or not. If others were doing it, then they shall too.

And Yugi smiled up at the moon, thanking mother Luna for the gift she had bestowed on him and his werewolf brethren, thanking her for allowing him to break free of the rest of the herd and experience life as he sees fit and not under the thumb of others. He thanked her for gifting him with such great friends and for helping heal his shattered soul.


	24. Part four Approbation Chapter 23

**Thanks to my lovely beta and don't forget to review and cast your vote :) it's completely anonymous yay!**

* * *

Yugi rubbed the twigs furiously to try to start a fire so that they could cook their food after their long journey. The three teenage boys had been traveling all day without pause for rest nor for any food. They had only a piece of bread for their breakfast and only a meager glass of water to wash down the stale bread.

And so, Yugi was desperate for a nice warm fire on this chilly night to cook their food for the first time this day.

But no matter how hard Yugi tried, the twigs just wouldn't light. They were almost like sentient beings that were purposely refusing to start the fire, just to irk Yugi.

"Ha – Ha, poor Yugi can't create a fire tonight. What's wrong, Yugi dear? Something upsetting you? You had done it easy enough the night before." laughed Joey, amusement shining in his eyes.

Turning his head slowly, Yugi unleashed his most furious death glare upon his friend and threw the twigs at Joeys face before stomping off angrily.

"If you are so great, you make the fire!" he screamed in frustration.

"What has got his tail in a spindle?" Joey said, looking at Atemu for an explanation.

"His _tail_ in a _spindle_? Really? That's the best that you could come up with?"

"What? It was a spur of the moment kind of thing. Besides I thought it was rather genius of me. What would have me say? It's not like he goes around wearing knickers, and if he does, well, then I will be _really _surprised. Not to mention, it would be super creepy!"

"Saying 'knickers in a twist' is a lot better than saying 'tail in a spindle', I mean really! His tail in a _spindle_? What in the name of Hell is wrong with you, my _good_ _man_?" mocked Atemu.

Yugi shook his head incredulously at their childish antics and games. Pushing deeper as he did into the thick underbrush of the forest, breaking all the branches and shrubs that where unfortunate enough to be in his way. As he made his way further into the forest, Yugi thought that he heard the faint echoes of a waterfall.

Making his way to the sound of the water splashing roughly against what seemed to Yugi like a million rocks, he came to the edge of what seemed the earth. But upon looking down this edge of the earth, he noticed that there was a stream located down the bottom of the very steep hill. The stream ran all the way through to the hill, what Yugi had discovered was a valley. A valley like no other, he gazed upon the beautiful waterfall towards the right and wondered how magnificently high it was.

Yugi, in all his life, had never seen something as beautiful as this and it was most likely that he would never see something as magnificent as this again. He watched with his keen werewolf eyes, eyes that could see details that no human could see. He watched fascinated as the water hit the shimmering rocks that seemed to have gold deep within them. Yugi would later learn that it was not gold that he saw, but fool's gold.

He watched as the water that hit a rock would go a thousand different ways. Some of the water would create a path that was completely separate from the waterfall and had no hope of remerging with the river. Some of the water created a twisting and winding path that would eventually meet back up with the waterfall's raging torrents.

Shifting his vision to the stream, which on closer inspection Yugi soon decided that it would be better to classify it as a river, Yugi saw two otters playing with each other merrily without thought or care of the outside world beyond their little river. He watched closely, the animals seeming to smile and laugh as they played.

_These two amazing creatures that are otters have not a single care in the world. I don't think that they ever will, for their world_ _is naught but a river and a waterfall. If only I could live out the rest of my existence like them. It would be so much nicer than the life I lead now._

But for the life of him, Yugi could not tear his eyes away from this beautiful picture that was hanging right in front of his vision as if mocking him. It was cruel for the world to do this to the young werewolf. Then again, the world is a cruel place, is it not? So it is not unexpected on Yugi's account that he would discover something like this upon his travels. It was only a matter of time if you were to ask Yugi.

Yugi decided that he would not be able to stop looking at this scene, enraptured as he was, and so he sat down on his haunches. _If I am going to be staring at a scene like this all day, then I may as well be comfortable to a certain degree,_ Yugi thought amused.

And this is how Joey and Atemu found our young hero not long after. Atemu motioned for Joey to be quiet. He wanted to see what had taken hold of his friend's attention and put him in a state like this, for Yugi looked dazed like a zombie. You would have thought him dead were it not for the small twitch of his ears and the rising and falling of his chest.

So Atemu crept forward and knelt beside his friend, staring intently at Yugi to deduce where he was looking. Once Atemu thought he had the general location, he turned his head in the same manner as Yugi and watched the otters play in the river below. Atemu, as he watched, had similar thoughts to the ones that Yugi had voiced to himself not too long ago, only Atemu was not thinking these horrible depressing thoughts for himself. No, he was thinking these wonderful notions that only dreamers could think up on Yugi's behalf.

Atemu, shaking his head sadly for his friend's self-induced loss of freedom, looked over towards the waterfall. And he found this waterfall just as fascinating as Yugi had.

"Look!" Atemu cried suddenly, gaining the attention of both the dazed Yugi and the annoyed Joey.

"What?" Joey asked, lacking the enthusiasm that Atemu had voiced and the eagerness that Yugi possessed upon his wolf face.

"Look at the waterfall! There seems to be some sort of… why it looks like a tunnel!" Atemu cried, rising swiftly to his feet and trying to make his way over to the monstrosity of a waterfall.

"Must we go over there, to that place, now? It is late, and do you want to know why it is late? Because you two decided to waste all day doing nothing but bicker and spent all night staring at a couple of otters! And now you two would like to go _spelunking_? NO! We are _not_ going at this time of night, or day as it is. You will likely get yourselves killed. And I do not want that weighing hard on my conscience." Joey said, his satchel full of herbs hanging loosely from his shoulder.

Atemu as well as Yugi , who had started to follow in his friend's foot prints so as not to slip down the side of this cliff, stopped to stare at their friend who always put a damper on every adventure that they tried to take.

"Why, Joey, I never knew that you had a conscience. You really _do _care for us." Yugi said, whiping a fake tear from his eye before laughing at the indignant look that crossed Joey's face.

Have you ever seen an indignant look cross a werewolves face? If you have and you did not laugh, then I am highly surprised. If you haven't, well, I will tell you it is very hard not to laugh.

Atemu shook his head, trying to hide the smile that was stretching across his handsome face. "But why can we not set out on our adventure tonight, Joey? Why are you being such a wet blanket? There's no harm in going now."

"No harm? You are stupid as well as crazy! Of course there's going to be harm, and you know what?"

"What?" Yugi asked, staring in awe at one of Joey's famous mighty tongue lashings.

"I will tell you what! Oh mighty Yugi and Lord Atemu, you two want to go into a deep dark cave located behind a waterfall. Correct? Please correct me if I am wrong in this assumption."

"No, you aren't wrong, Joey." Atemu sighed.

"When is he ever?" Mumbled Yugi, eliciting a chuckle from Atemu's usually stoic demeanor.

A growl coming from deep within Joey's chest stopped the two from any further attempts at goofing around.

"Shut up and listen. Okay, at this time of night you want to go into a deep dark cave. One of the many reasons that it is dangerous is how are we going to get to said deep dark cave? We could possible break our necks just trying to get close to the cave! Reason number two is because we have no idea what is in that cave or who, or what, is occupying that cave. What if it was a bunch of barbaric outcast humans that dedicated their lives to hunting us! Huh? What would we do then? No, I say that we wait until the early morning." Joey finished with a note of finality within his voice.

"Alright, alright! We get it already!" Atemu said, throwing his hands up in the air as a sign of surrender.

"Do you ever stop to take a breath when you talk? You just go on and on and on and on! I still can't figure out if you had taken a breath at any given moment!" Yugi said with a heavy amount of amusement in his tones.

"The only reason he doesn't need to breathe as much as us is because it would cut down on his eating time!" laughed Atemu.

Joeys expression became a mixture of boredom and exasperation, which was quite amazing and not to mention so amusing to Yugi that sent him into a fit of giggles, causing Joey to huff and leave the two werewolves. He knew that they would follow.

And sure enough, the two followed behind Joey, running to catch up with him. When they did, they were slightly out of breath, when they had noticed that he had left them awhile ago.

Each werewolf took his respective seat around the fireplace. Obviously, Atemu, much to the amusement of Yugi and the annoyance of Joey, could not let the topic previously discussed drop and so he decided to take it upon himself, seeing as the other two were perfectly happy to not breach the subject again, to drag up the topic once more for discussion.

"So, how come we cannot go now? Why do we have to in the early morning?" he asked, looking between the two across from him.

"So as to catch the evil barbaric werewolf hunting humans unawares and we can then slit their throats as they sleep and steal their valuables for ourselves. Then they will never bother us or the pack again and will not be able to take a life seeing as they would be dead after we slit their throats." Joey said in a fit of genius with a smirk upon his face, the firelight making him look like a frightening sight to behold.

"Right... Not how I would have worded it." said Yugi.

After giving Yugi and Atemu concerned glances, he finally consented to the idea and they all laid down their weary heads, placing them on their nonexistent imaginary pillows. Silently, they settled in for a long, long, sleep until the morning where they could investigate the mysterious cave behind the waterfall.


	25. Part four Approbation Chapter 24

**I would like to thank my beta and thank you for all the reviews :)**

* * *

By the time the morning light filtered through the thick forest canopy, the three werewolves had already packed up all of their belongings into their tiny little rucksacks, strapped on their weapons, minus Yugi who had adamantly refused about carrying one, and threw water onto the fire, dousing the flames, creating quite a lot of smoke. The smoke rose and swirled around them causing the three of them to wave their paws in front of them. Their eyes watered fiercely as they coughed and hacked themselves to near death.

Slowly but surely, the three young werewolves trudged their way up the slope and back the way that Yugi had taken earlier in his mad fit of anger, which he had gotten over in the light of a new adventure and a mysterious cave, to the place that they had discovered the cave.

They crept closer to the cave and discovered a little narrow pathway leading into the cave. The only problem was that it was extremely wet and slippery due to the waterfall.

Taking in a deep breath and without the consent of the others, Atemu rushed over the narrow pathway and under the curtain of water. Glancing around the cave which seemed like an endless tunnel, he called out to Yugi and Joey that it seemed safe.

As Yugi came in, closely followed by Joey, they took notice of all the stalagmites littering the floor and the stalactites located at odd places on the top. Just as Yugi decided it would be a good idea to take a step forward so that he could be beside his friend a giant stalactite fell from the ceiling.

All three of them jumped back in shock, throwing their arms over their eyes and coughing as the dust and rock particles danced around in their breathing space.

"I thought you said it was safe!" Yugi rounded on Atemu, anger sparking in the depths of his eyes.

"I said it seemed safe. Not that it was safe."

"Humph." Yugi said, turning his attention to the walls rather than Atemu.

"Well, either way, now we know to watch where we are going and look at the ceiling for guidance so we won't be crushed by the stalactites." Joey cheered.

"Well, would you look at that? How convenient for us." Yugi mused out loud, drawing the other two's attention away from the ceiling and onto the rough grey wall.

"Care to share your new discovery with us, Yugi?" Atemu asked with fake politeness oozing out of his mouth.

Yugi shot Atemu a withering glare.

"Look, over there," He said pointing, "Upon the wall, brackets... and with torches as well. By the looks of it, they still look good enough to burn!" He said excitedly.

"See what I mean about not knowing what could be in the cave?"

"Oh, shut up, you wet blanket you!" Atemu and Yugi said at the exact same time.

Taking one of the torches from out of its designated bracket and wiping off the cobwebs, Joey lit it. As the boys went along, they lit each and every torch that they came across making it easier for them to deduce the safest path plausible for them, and eliminate the risk of getting impaled or crushed to death by a stalactite.

When they had thought that this tunnel would never end, or if you were a pessimist like Yugi, that it was just a dead end, their feet sore and bleeding from getting all manner of small sharp objects stuck in their footpads. Just then, the tunnel opened up to reveal a large ominous cavern with a lake off to the left side. A single stalactite hung in the middle with a constant drop of water every other minute as well as various stalagmites littering the ground around the lake, forming a sort of railing.

Towards the right was a bunch of skeletons, much to the displeasure of Yugi who had a great disliking for the things. By now, he had seen enough of them in the catacombs beneath London and he always felt that they were grinning maliciously at him. The empty eye sockets just gave him the shivers. But it was what was at the very far end of the cavern, slightly off centre illuminated by a single beam of light coming from the outside.

"If that is not cliché, then I clearly do not know what is." Joey mumbled Yugi's thoughts out loud for him. Atemu laughed heartily at this; the other two joining in not long after.

"But I wonder why it is here." Mused Atemu.

Illuminated slightly off center by a single beam of light at the end of this ominous looking cavern, was a sword, standing upright in the mud in all its shining glory. The sword had emeralds as well as rubies glittering off the silver inlaid hilt with a pure silver double edged blade.

Joey shook his head in wonder at this new mystery that had unfolded before them. He knew that the sword was dangerous, judging by the skeletons and rotting corpses which Yugi had skillfully ignored.

Moving closer to the long dead people or whatever they had been when they were living, Yugi ignored the hands that tried to pull him back. He steadily moved closer, straining all his senses in a vain attempt to sense if there was any danger present. All he heard was Atemu following behind him.

Upon closer inspection of the corpses, he noticed that the corpses had a very wolf like appearance to them. 'Strange' was the only thought running through his head.

"Just as I had suspected. These were defiantly, or used to be one hundred percent werewolves." Joey said, turning to the other two and taking in the appearance of an extremely freaked out Yugi, his fur was standing visibly up on end and his tail as rigid as stone. Even in the dim lighting it was noticeable, and Atemu was sporting a bemused expression.

"Obviously, they were attempting to take the sword over there."

"Why though? It is purely made of silver! And silver burns all werewolves!" Atemu cried stepping back in shock.

"Obviously, not all can be affected by it." Joey said, looking meaningfully in Yugi's direction and raising a meaningful eyebrow at Yugi.

"What?" He said, looking at Atemu and Joey, confused, before realization dawned on the poor confused werewolf. "Oh no. Oh hell no! I am not touching that thing!"

"Aw, come on. Please! The entire floor over there is silver and the sword's made out of silver too! You are the only one that can get it! I got the scabbard." Atemu said pleadingly to Yugi. Apparently when Yugi's back was turned, he had found the case for the sword in one of the corpse's hands and picked it up.

Yugi stared at them incredulously, begging them silently with his eyes to let the sword be and to leave this death trap.

"You do know that I don't get off scott free either, right? It hurts me as if I was getting burnt. It just has no physical signs to prove that it hurts me."

"Would you like me to push you or throw you over there, then? Would that make you feel better?" Joey mocked.

"Fine. I'll do it. Just so you know, I utterly resent and loath you for this and I will never forgive you."

With determination set grimly on his face, Yugi started walking forward, stepping hesitantly onto the metal floor. Hissing quietly to himself, he winced as he felt the burning sensation upon the bottom of his feet. Joey could not help the laughter pouring from his lips as he watched his friend prancing and skipping around the metal floor, making his way towards the silver sword.

"Joey, be quiet. It's not funny!" said Atemu, smacking him upside the head.

Yugi could not help gasping at the beauty of the sword that was presented to him up close. Ignoring the burning sensation coming from his feet, he gazed in awe at the magnificent beauty of this sword. He wondered briefly who made it and why before he dismissed such thoughts from his mind.

Gingerly picking the sword up, he silently cursed as he felt the sensation of his paws beginning to blister painfully. Yugi, after getting a firm grip on the sword, ran to his two friends as if the devil was on his heels.

"There. I got it. Now hurry up and give me a piece of cloth to wrap this thing up in!"

"Alright, alright here. Calm those raging horses of yours." Joey said, passing over the scabbard.

Normally, Atemu would comment on his random choice of phrases. But he had long since given up, deciding that some topics were best left alone and would make fun of him for it when he was asleep.

Making their way out of the tunnel, they decided that it would be best to make their camp far away from this creepy cavernous place. They thought that it would be best for all of them and not give them nightmares. Just** as well they thought that they would leave the mystery of the sword until a later dat**e.


	26. Part four Approbation Chapter 25

**Thanks for reading and reviewing :)**

* * *

"Experiences of hard ships are what define us and mold us as human beings. What each and every one of us has and will go through in life, will only make us stronger as long as we do not let it over come us." Yugi said, staring at the sword in his lap sullenly.

"What was that, Yugi?" Joey asked, having only heard a slight mutter coming from his friend.

Over the past few weeks, his friend had become steadily quieter over their journey to the old battle field. He had taken to staying up all night and day. He hardly slept lately and no matter what his friends did Yugi refused to listen to them. It was like he was in another world entirely.

Yugi had taken to spending hours staring at the sword. Ever since he had touched it and they had left the cave hidden behind the water fall, Yugi had become silent and brooding. A morbid atmosphere seemed to float around him. He only spoke to the others when he was going to go to sleep or going for a short little walk along the top of the hills, but he spoke nothing more than that.

Yugi would often mutter little phrases like the previous one, but when his friends questioned him about it he would say nothing and go back to acting like an animated corpse. His friends had learned to deal with this new Yugi and did not pester him like a mother hen. It only made him angry and forced him into silence or he would react violently.

Joey and Atemu regretted ever wanting to take the sword from the mysterious cave. They wished they had of listen to Yugis pleas and left it well alone. They now felt that the sword was nothing but a bad omen and should have been left alone.

Now that the two thought of it, there was no reason for them to take the cursed sword. For what help would it offer them since none of them could wield it without being injured? It would cause more injuries to them than to their enemies.

Joey glanced over at Atemu, who was currently gathering firewood, shaking his head sadly with a heavy sigh to accompany it, signaling that there was no change in Yugi yet.

"I am going to die." Yugi said simply to his other two traveling companions.

They both stared at each other, wondering if he was still in his zombie like daze and if it was just something the sword was making him say. Looking over at their friend, they noticed a clarity in his eyes that had not been present for a couple of days.

"What do you mean, Yugi?" Atemu asked quietly, slowly moving towards Yugi and gently sitting in front of him.

"I am going to die, Atemu. Did you not hear me the first time?" he asked mildly, looking curiously at Atemu.

"Yes, I heard you. I just hoped that I had misheard you." Atemu said honestly with no hint of anger in his voice, picking up Yugi's unused cup of water.

"Why, pray tell, do you think that you are going to die, Yugi?" Joey asked.

"I saw it, well sort of. I know that I will die by being stabbed through the heart with a blade made of silver. There was a bunch of people watching me in the vission and I was missing an ear." He said getting a faraway look in his eye, thinking back to the vision that the sword had granted him.

Atemu had decided to take a sip of water while Yugi was talking. When he heard this, he spit out the water and it sprayed all over Yugi. Atemu had a bad habit of taking drinks at the most inappropriate times and he always ended up spraying his friends when he is shocked or upset.

"Watch it!" snarled Yugi. "Or I will be forced to have to beat you on your head with a rabbit, or a robin, whichever happens along first.'" Yugi joked all the while smirking slightly at his two friends.

Before either Atemu or Joey could respond, the clouds moved eerily across the night sky, causing Yugi to glance upwards. Watching silently, the clouds covered the full moon, and then moved again, uncovering the middle portion of the moon so that the three werewolves could view it.

"The pack is most likely celebrating right now." Atemu said, sighing wistfully, most likely wishing that he could be there for it and celebrate with his friends that were still back home with the rest of the pack.

"Come on." Atemu said, breaking himself out of his reminiscing and rather morbid string of thoughts as well as memories.

"Yes, let us start on our journey towards the place where that war had taken place." Joey said, beginning to pack up all the necessary items that would be required on their journey. All three forgot about their previous conversation.


	27. Part four Approbation Chapter 26

**Thank you for all the favourites, and reviews and thanks to my beta phantomworks :)**

* * *

The three young werewolf boys have been traveling for days, hardly stopping for food or rest. They were desperate to get to their destination as fast as they possibly could.

They were currently running through a thick dense forest. The sun shone brightly above the forest canopy, streaking through the breaks in the leaves, hitting the moss covered rocks and lighting up the little stream that was running parallel to the boys. Yet they paid no attention to the beauty of the forest. So close were they to their goal that they barely paid attention to each other.

While they were running full speed toward the center of the forest, hoping to make it their before nightfall, they often did not pay attention to what was on the ground. They often tripped and stumbled over the debris of the forest floor or over each other. Always urging each other on and to go as fast as they possibly could.

The boys did not pay attention to how exhausted they were. They ignored it in the hopes of upstaging their traveling companions.

Around mid day, the three decided to slow their pace down. Rather than an insane full sprint run, they toned it down to a light jog and a couple hours later decided for a brisk walk.

Late evening that same day, the three werewolves came to the center of the forest. The sun was still shining through the trees, although it was dimmer than it had been earlier this same day when the three were running at top speed.

Yugi glanced around warily at his surroundings. He had a very bad feeling about this. He sensed that something was watching him, yet he knew that it was not Bakura. Whatever was watching them, Yugi knew that it was something else, something more sinister.

He wished to express his concern with the others, but he did not want to alert whatever was watching them that he knew that they were there hiding behind the trees and using the bushes as cover.

Yugi heard a sickening crunch and he felt something splinter beneath his paw. Normally, he would dismiss this as just a breaking twig. Yet this, this was different for the material that had just recently been broken beneath his paw was smooth, not rough like a twig or branch should be.

Glancing down and lifting up his back paw, Yugi saw that he had stepped on not a twig or a branch, not even a rock. Yugi had stepped on a skull, a human skull to be exact.

"Uh, guys? I think you should come and check this out!" He yelled, still gazing at the skull that he had just stepped in, unable to move, petrified by the thought that he just stepped in a human skull.

_My foot is stuck in a human skull, this is nasty and gross. Ew, that's nasty! There are centipedes crawling around my foot! Oh God, it's going up my leg. Don't scream like a girl, don't scream like a girl. OH GOD, IT'S A SPIDER! WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME THAT THESE THINGS HAPPEN TO!_

And this was how Joey and Atemu found Yugi, frozen in place with his paw up in the air and a look of panic bordering on hysteria frozen on his face.

"What, did you step on an insect or in a pile of decomposing rodent shit?" Atemu asked, laughing.

"No!" Yugi said indignantly. "If you must know, which I think you do need to know, I got the unfortunate luck of stepping on a human skull. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion, by looking around, this place is that we have come to the battlefield that was described in that old history book."

"Yugi." Joey began admonishing. "This skull could have belonged to a human that could have been an exiled criminal from Norwich. The city is located near this cite."

"Really, well, that is possible yet I am positive that this is the old battle site." Yugi said without hesitation and pure confidence.

"How can you be so sure of yourself, Yugi? I think Joey is right." Atemu said.

"Come on, we have better things to do than stand over a criminal's broken skull." Joey said, turning away.

"Like finding the real old battle field." Atemu said, following behind Joey without giving Yugi a second glance.

That is, until Yugi said something to the both of them that made them stop in their tracks.

"Well, if you guys want to waste your energy reserves go ahead. I'll just sit here quietly and wait for you to return when you figure out that you were wrong and I was right." He called to their retreating forms, sitting down and leaning against a nearby tree.

Joey and Atemu stopped dead in their tracks, turning slowly to face Yugi. Huffing, they backtracked and made their way back to him, crouching down to eye level with him.

"What do you mean, Yugi ?" Jason sighed, pinching the bridge of his snout twixt his eyes, not willing to deal with Yugi's stubbornness. He was rather inclined to disagree with Atemu and leave Yugi where he was sitting and start looking for the old battle field himself.

"Yeah, what gives you the idea that this is the old battle field?" Atemu questioned gently.

"Do you two ever take a look at your surroundings? You know what? Don't bother answering that, we all know that you don't. Because if you did bother to take a look at your surroundings." Yugi said, ignoring the glares that they sent his way. "Then you would have noticed the rusting shields and swords, not to mention armor that is littered throughout the forest floor." Yugi said smugly, gesturing to the swords and shields that were old and rusting away with his furry paw.

For the first time, Joey and Atemu decided to take a closer look at their surroundings and look in the directions that Yugi was pointing in. All three of them stood up and looked on in awe at the forest floor.

They took in all the skeletons that were covered in moss and the rusting shields. The spears with the heads of skeletons impaled upon them.

They walked slowly, turning around in slow circles, trying to process all that they now saw. They tried imagining the Great War that had taken place on the very soil that they now stood upon.

Yugi glanced up at the sun that was streaking throughout the forest canopy to where a beam of light shone on a skeleton's head. It seemed to be laughing at him, grinning with empty eye sockets.

As he looked, he could swear that he saw flashes of the past, little glimpses into the long ago wars that had taken place. He saw, as if he was standing there himself, upon the gory battle field. Werewolves fully fitted in battle armor, carrying pure silver swords like the one that was attached to his hip. Running and howling at the full moon, they clashed head on with the human horde that was fast approaching the werewolf army.

He watched as the werewolves were falling under the might of the humans, saw flashes as the werewolves called a swift retreat. Watched in relief as some of the werewolf warriors managed to make it without incident and gazed sadly as the werewolves who were not fast enough were captured by the human army.

Stared on as the ones that had not made it off of the battle field were tortured and killed by the humans. Their fur was stripped off of their body and used for mundane things not worthy of a werewolf. Watched as they were defiled, even within death; a place where they should be allowed to rest in peace. The humans had no qualms about denying them any peace.

"This was a massacre. Not a war, a massacre." Yugi whispered.

The other two nodded in agreement as they glanced around themselves. So enraptured were they in their surroundings, they did not hear the approaching footsteps coming up behind them.

Yugi jumped a foot in the air and whirled around to face the dark shadow that was behind them when the being decided to speak, announcing its presence to the other two werewolves.

"Yes, it was indeed a massacre. If you haven't figured it out already, it was an ambush. The humans were a lot smarter than the werewolves had anticipated. Even brute strength could not save them." The dark shadow said quietly.

"Who – who are you?" Yugi stuttered.

The dark shape turned to face them, looking Yugi dead in the eyes. "Me? My name is Pegasus. My full name given to me at birth, by my now deceased parents, is Pegasus J. Crawford. I am known as Maximillion by most though. That was the name that I had been gifted by my Sire."

"You're Sire? What do you mean? And how come you have been following us?" Yugi asked, confusion written plainly for all to see on his face.

"Ah, you are a warrior for your pack I take it." Pegasus said. "Or not. I take it that you do not understand a word of what I am saying. That's fine. We have all the time that the world sees fit to offer us, seeing as how we all happen to be immortal."

"You mean to say, that you are a werewolf as well?" Atemu asked excitedly.

Pegasus chuckled lightly. "No, I am as much a werewolf as you are cabbages. No, I am a vampire. You know, those blood sucking monsters that humans think are parasites?"

Joey and Atemu started to back up, trying to pull Yugi back with them. Yet Yugi held his ground, looking Pegasus straight in the eyes.

"Yes," Pegasus said "You are a warrior, yet you are more of a scout than a foot soldier." He stated.

"Wha? What do you mean I am a warrior? What do you mean by sire?"

"You are a warrior. I can tell by the way that you observe your surroundings. You notice things that your companions do not. You have noticed my presence when your friends have not."

"So, that does not mean I am a warrior or a scout." Yugi said stubbornly. "And you still haven't answered my question about what you meant when you said your sire."

"A sire is the one that turned a vampire. For example, there were two people, a man and a woman. The man was a vampire and turned the woman into a vampire, the man then became the woman's sire." Atemu said.

"I can understand perfectly fine without the example and the tree branches." Yugi said, annoyed as he watched Joey act out Atemu's example with a rock and a tree branch.

"Back to the matter at hand, it does, in fact, mean that I know that you are a warrior."

"I hope you realize that made hardly any sense." Yugi said deadpanned.

"Shut up and listen to me for once! I am five hundred years old."

"Damn you're old. I mean, I knew you were old but..." Yugi trailed off.

"Shit, you're ancient!" Atemu finished for Yugi.

"Can you people shut up and listen to me?"

"Sure, sorry." Joey said, scratching the back of his neck."But, whoa, oooold."

"I remember the times when the humans and werewolves were friends, then when they turned on one another."

"You're telling me that we were actually friends with humans? You've got to be joking!" Joey said incredulously.

"Just shut up and listen to him, you moron, before he kills us." Atemu hissed.

"I'm not a moron you idiot!"

"If you weren't a moron, you would shut up and not argue with me!"

"Would you two shut up and listen!" Yugi screamed, pulling at his hair.

"As I was saying," Pegasus glared at them before continuing. "I remember when the werewolves came to the vampires for help. Four hundred years ago, we vampires agreed to help the werewolves. We showed your race how to make them better, stronger, than they had previously been."

"I don't mean to be rude and interrupt what seems like a great story." Yugi began. "But what does this have to do with me?"

"I'm getting to that part. If you would just sit still and listen without interrupting like a good pupi,l you would know by now!"

"Alright, alright, sorry for interrupting."

"Any way, as I was saying before. We showed them a way that they could hold silver without getting burnt. This battle took place 300 years ago. You have been given the ability to hold silver without damage." Pegasus said, gesturing to the sword at Yugi's side.

"Your point?" Yugi said raising his eyebrows.

"The point is that you have been given glimpses of the past, of this battle, correct?" Pegasus asked.

"Yes, yes, I have." Yugi said hesitantly.

"You have a connection to the warriors that once stood here in our place. You have seen how they had died and seen that they have been able to hold silver. Only the warriors of the werewolf pack had undergone the process to give them that particular ability. It was a great honor in the old times. Only a select few were given this honor, because the process could kill them. The ones that survived were trained in the ways of war and became warriors, the protectors of the pack."

"What is this process? I haven't gone through any process. I was only bitten by a werewolf." Yugi said confused. Similar expressions could be found on his friends faces.

"Exactly, you dimwitted fool! The whole process was to take the pureblood werewolves and bite them while they were in their human form! It was extremely painful for those that agreed to go through with it and some died from it. Others went insane from the dreams that they experienced. They thought it was real, for the dreams were exactly like reality. They ended up killing themselves to rid themselves of the madness."

Atemu looked sharply at Yugi when this was said. Yugi's eyes widened as he thought back to the pain when he was bitten, to the dreams that he had nearly gone insane from, to his inability to transform. It all made sense, except for the fact that his parents had been human, not pureblood werewolves.

"But, the ones that had been fortunate enough survived and made it, they were gifted werewolves. Although, they were extremely sensitive in the beginning. A voice that grated on their nerves could make their ears bleed from it. They could hear and see more than a normal werewolf could, even their fellow purebloods." Pegasus continued, ignoring the looks that the three werewolves were sending each other.

"And they are able to touch silver without any physical repercussions." Yugi finished.

"Precisely."

"So you are saying that Yugi is a pureblood? How? He lived with humans all his life!" Atemu cried.

"I have been watching this young cub for a while, ever since he was born as his parents had begged of me."

"Who were his parents then?" Atemu asked.

"Have you not figured it out yourself? Very well, I will give you one more clue. His parents belonged to your pack once upon a time, Atemu Sennen." Shadow said as if this should reveal all.

The three boys, though, did not understand what he was going on about. It still did not explain to them who Yugi's real parents were. Although, Yugi had a nagging sense that he knew who Pegasus was referring to, but he didn't want to believe it. He still wanted to cling to the idea that his human parents were his biological parents rather than accept the fact that they adopted him.

_Although, it will explain why I looked nothing like them_. He thought with increasing depression.

"Yes, you know who your parents are, or rather were, don't you, Yugi." Pegasus said knowingly.

"So you are saying that Bakura is my brother? That, that thing is related to me?"

"Yes. Well, you're not as dumb as you look, are you? I guess miracles really do happen once in awhile." Pegasus laughed.

Neither Yugi nor Pegasus noticed the widening of Atemu's and Joey's eyes, or the shocked intakes of breath that they took.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Yugi that he never thought to ask before. "How come it is so painful though?"

"The reason that the transformations are so painful is because those that were chosen, they are born a werewolf. They are pureblood werewolves and when a pureblood werewolf is bitten by a werewolf, and if they do not know that they are a werewolf, then they will be forced into their heritage early and they will not be ready for it. That is why it hurt you so much more than any others that had suffered through it before you. You never ever bite a pureblood werewolf, especially if they do not know about their heritage, and are not mentally ready for it."

"Why can't they be bitten?" Joey asked

"Pureblood werewolves can't be bitten by another werewolf because they have to be eased into it and get used to the idea before they can begin to transform." Explained Pegasus, a bit miffed at Joey for cutting him off

"So what happens when you bite a pureblood werewolf that is unaware?" Joey asked.

"When purebloods are bitten and forced into it, they will have nightmares and the transformation will be excruciatingly painful because of the venoms of each werewolf are fighting each other, the natural and unnatural." Pegasus explained.

"So because I was a pureblood, when purebloods are bitten the two venoms begin to contradict each other, counteracting certain werewolf traits and increasing others?" Yugi asked.

"Yes." Pegasus said, looking approvingly at Yugi.

"You must not say this to any other werewolf. This secret was only shared to help protect the werewolves, but they went insane with it. That sword is a product of it. All the history and weapons of the old days were locked up because of it."

"How come they went crazy?" Yugi asked.

"Because they thought that if they turned every werewolf into a protector that they could be better than anything. They started to try to control the other races, like the humans and the vampires as well as the mages." Pegasus said.

"The sword that you carry now was forged by wizards. The werewolves believe that if you hold it then you will never fall in battle. It had been given to the king of England a long time ago. Werewolves ended up killing each other for it, and so we hid it in a cave along with the rest of the history, in hopes that history would not repeat itself."

"I see. Well, don't worry we will not breath a word of this to any others." Atemu said.

"Shh!" Yugi hissed. "There are others in this forest besides us, and they are approaching fast, at an alarming rate actually." He said urgently.

Before Pegasus or the others could comment on this new revelation, they were swarmed by werewolves. All they could do was hope that their conversation had not been over heard, before they were knocked unconscious.


	28. Part four Approbation Chapter 27

**Hope you like this chapter**

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Waking up with a pounding headache is not the nicest way to be brought back to consciousness. Yugi, though, was used to waking up with aches and pains all over his body, so getting a knock to the head that had left him unconscious was not that painful to him.

Although, his friends and newest companion were not used to this and so they woke up with groans and whines. Yugi sat there, not bothering to tell them to shut up and deal with it. Although, if they continued on with it for another minute, he just might call their newly acquired guards to knock his friends out, if only to grant him some semblance of peace for a little while.

Yugi, along with the rest of his companions, glanced around their new prison taking in their surroundings. They were currently situated inside a cage. Each one of them was placed in a separate cage. Yugi's cage was located in the middle.

Joey's cage was beside Yugi's cage on the left side and Atemu was imprisoned in a cage to Joey's left. All three of their cages had pure silver bars, preventing them from bending the bars and escaping, with wooden bottoms and tops. Pegasus was in front of Yugi's cage. His was made out of wood. Apparently their captors had run out of silver cages.

Yugi heard footsteps coming from behind him. Whirling to face the new comer, he noticed an old werewolf crouched at eye level near the bars of his cage with a vindictive, cruel, smirk twisted upon his lips showing off long canine teeth.

This new werewolf was very tall, Yugi could guess that even if the werewolf wasn't standing. The new werewolf had black hair which reached his shoulders. He had beads in the shape of animals, carved out of wood, braided into his hair. He donned bracelets that were made out of gold and he had colored beads flanking either sides of the golden beads, which were in the shape of a human's skull.

Yugi snarled in anger as he took in the human skull shaped bead. Gazing angrily with his muzzle pressed up against the bars and snarling for all he was worth, he snapped his teeth viciously, hoping for some form of purchase, regardless of the pain that the silver bars brought him.

The werewolf jumped back briefly in shock, surprise briefly flashing in his hazel colored eyes, before over coming these brief emotions and pushing Yugi's head back, farther away from the bars of the cage, with the butt end of his silver tipped dagger.

Yugi hissed in pain, removing his sharp and vicious canine teeth and replacing them with his sharp claws. All werewolf claws are as sharp as steel so to get clawed with them was extremely painful and usually left a deep scar as Yugi had found out from firsthand experience. After all, he had been on the receiving end of Bakura's claws, his brother's claws.

The werewolf in front of Yugi hissed in riotous fury towards Yugi and his not so subtle defiance. The male wolf abruptly straightened himself to his full height, walking away sparing a glance at Yugi.

_Who is this werewolf that does not fear the punishment of silver? Who is this werewolf that is heedless to his pain? Who is this creature with the scars upon his cheek? _Where some of the thoughts that swirled within the brute's mind, scrunching his bushy black eyebrows in confusion.


	29. Part four Approbation Chapter 28

**Hope you like, want to thank my beta phantomworks :) please review**

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"Whoa!" Atemu exclaimed groggily. He was still not completely conscious and aware to the world it seemed.

"What are you doing in a cage?" The confused werewolf asked perplexed. His question was directed at Pegasus who happened to be the first person Atemu saw.

"Who me? How kind and thoughtful of you to ask. Well the reason that I am in a cage is that I saw this pretty cage here and I thought to myself 'why Pegasus, wouldn't it be a barrel of fun to get someone to lock me in a cage with my hands tied behind my back?" He said cheerfully.

"Really? Why would you think that?" Joey asked even more confused.

Pegusus blinked at him a couple times with a blank expression, then after a few moments of silence Pegasus scowled fiercely at Joey. "We were captured you dimwitted idiot!" He whispered harshly.

"We were?" Joey asked.

"No, I was just joking! Of course, we were you fool, or have you failed to notice that we are all sitting in cages due to your lack of possessing a functioning brain!" Pegasus asked dryly.

"Why are you acting so hostile towards me?" Joey asked indignantly.

"Who me? Hostile? Hostile towards you? You must be out of your mind, this is me being nice! Can't you tell?" Pegasus said with heavy sarcasm.

"Leave it alone, Pegasus. I've already got a pounding headache and you are not helping matters with your stupid sarcasm!" Atemu snapped in irritation.

"Oh, well aren't you chipper this morning! Well then, your royal highness, your wish is my command!" Sneered Pegasus, "You are not the only one with an increasing headache." Pegasus muttered to himself. The only one who heard him was Yugi because of his increased hearing, among his other heightened senses.

Yugi still couldn't decide whether this was a blessing or a curse. Most of the time though he thought it was the latter rather than the former. Yugi's only response to Pegasus' mutterings was to roll his eyes to the heavens and pray to whatever god that was listening to give him the patience that he desperately needed so that he would not rip his companions' heads off and put an end to their childish squabbles.

"So, have any of us seen the leader around here?" Atemu murmured.

"And here I thought you were the smart one." Pegasus mocked. "Of course none of us saw the leader, we have all been unconscious!"

"Well, I thought you were the smart one. Oops, my bad. You were the self proclaimed genius. You don't actually have any proof that you are smart." Sneered Atemu."Guess you're just an idiot like the rest of us."

"OI, children!" Yugi shouted.

Yugi's travelling companions heads immediately swivelled to look at him. It seemed that they were so caught up in their heated discussions that they had forgotten that there was a fourth person stuck in a cage.

Each of their heads held a different expression as they glared at one another. Atemu looked about ready to scream, Pegasus looked like he wanted to break out of his tiny wooden cage and break Joey face into tiny pieces, and Joey looked like he wanted to wring Pegasus' scrawny little neck, well, scrawny in his opinion.

"Now before you start putting your rather 'genius and brilliant' murder plans for each other into action, you might just want to hear me out first." Sighed Yugi.

Yugi waited what seemed like half a day, to him at least, for his companions to calm themselves down, so that they could think, more rationally than they had done so previously.

Atemu seemed to cool down the quickest, which wasn't much of a surprise. Atemu had never liked fighting either verbally or physically before, and he was never one to lose his head. Pegasus cooled down the second quickest, most likely because of his age. Although he still looked slightly miffed, which Yugi didn't have any desire to deal with at the moment. Joey, of course, was the last to cool down.

"I have seen the leader. He's quite the freak as well."

Yugi wanted to laugh out loud at Pegasus' shocked face and Joey's smug look that just screamed 'I told you so, I told you so' but he didn't have to for Atemu was laughing enough for a total of five people. After Atemu had calmed down enough, a heaviness fell upon the friends and serious expressions adorned their once cheerful faces.

"So, you've seen the leader? Guess you were the first to wake up then, weren't you? So, what did you deduce from your meeting with the leader of this merry band of werewolves?" Pegasus asked without mirth.

"They're savages."

"Yes, well we could deduce that from the rough handling of their own kin as well as the silver cages." Pegasus muttered with heavy sarcasm.

"I don't mean savages just because of that." Yugi said hotly. "What I meant is that the leader, well, he's tall."

"Anyone compared to you is tall. You're a shrimp remember?" Atemu said, amusement ringing clearly in his voice.

"UGH! You are impossible! I mean he's taller than Joey! Not only that but, his jewellery..." Yugi trailed off, thinking back to the shrunken human skulls.

"What about his jewellery, Yugi. What's so special about it?" Joey asked, noticing the far off look that his friend was now sporting.

"He wears beads in his hair and around his neck." said Yugi distantly, thinking back to when he saw those horrid human skulls the chief werewolf was wearing, donning them around his neck like some kind of sick trophy.

"So the guy wears a bunch of beads. In my opinion, that makes him more of a pansy than a savage. What's so bad about the girly-boy wearing beads?" Joey asked.

"They were human skulls." Yugi whispered more to himself than in answer to Joey's snide remark.

"Ugh, hate to break it to you, Yugi, but aren't human skulls a little too big to be worn as beads?" Joey asked perplexed. "I think they hit your head a little too hard when they knocked you out."

"No, I know it was a human skull. They somehow managed to shrink it." He said.

Pegasus glanced at each of his new found friends' faces, taking in all of their expressions. He glanced at Yugi's dazed expression, Atemu's confused face but amusement also lingered in his eyes. He looked at Joey's incredulous face as he stared at Yugi. It was clear to Pegasus that Joey and Atemu did not believe Yugi.

"I know that it is hard to believe in the concept of someone shrinking a human's skull. If I was in your position, I would not believe it either. But I have seen it first hand. I have seen shrunken human heads and have seen them in the process of being shrunken. It is not an uncommon thing to shrink a human's skull. Although, I have never, in all my life, seen or heard of someone wearing them as beads."

Joey turned to look at Pegasus so fast Yugi worried that he might have broken something in his neck.

"So, that means that Yugi isn't a nut job?" Joey asked, seemingly put out.

At that remark, Yugi turned so he faced Joey, narrowing his eyes and sending a fierce glare his way. "Are you saying that you want me to be a basket case! Who's the crazy one now?"

"You're still the crazy one, you ape head."

"Ape head, am I? Well at least I'm not a buffoon with a stick so far up his a..."

"Enough!" They both shut up immediately as they heard Atemu shout, but still continued to glare fiercely at one another. "Now is not the time to try beating each other up, or have you two idiots forgotten that the cages are made out of silver? When we are out of this mess then you can beat each other into oblivion, got it?"

Joey and Yugi meekly nodded their heads, backing away from the bars of their cages and turning their attention onto Atemu, but not before sending each other fierce glares that promised pain when they could manage to get out of their respective cages.

Pegasus shook his head sadly at the lack of maturity that the new generation of werewolves showed. "Anyways, back to the matter at hand. How are we going to get out of here?"

"Well, the easiest way to plan an escape is to find out what they want with us and why they captured us."

Pegasus rubbed his chin thoughtfully before turning his piercing gaze onto Yugi. "Tell me what the leader of these werewolves looked like."

Yugi didn't understand why he wanted to know what the sadistic werewolf looked like, but he complied with Pegasus' request none the less.

"Hmm. If what I remember is accurate, and no doubt it is because I am always right. I mean, I don't think I have ever been wrong..." Pegasus would have continued this line of thought if it were not for what Atemu said.

"Enough, we get it, okay? Now can you kindly please tell us what you figured out?"

Yugi thought he saw Pegasus pout before he answered, but then played it off as a trick of the lighting, _There is no way in the seven levels of hell that a five hundred year old guy is pouting. It's just not possible._

"Alright fine, ruin my fun."

_On second thought, maybe it is possible. _Yugi thought wryly.

"Based on your description of the tribe's leader, it reminds me of one of the tribes that fought in the battle against the humans once. At that time though, they were part of a different clan. I think it was the clan that lived near the ocean..."

"Get on with it!" Joey said impatiently.

"Alright, jeez, you're so impatient, you know that? Anyway, at that time the tribe had begun to split in half."

"Split in half? You mean they were fighting amongst each other as well as against the humans?" Atemu asked.

"That's insane! Why would they start fighting among themselves when they have other enemies that could take advantage of that?" Yugi cried, biting his lip.

"That's exactly what they wanted." Pegasus said grimly. "The werewolf that was leading the mutiny wanted the humans to take advantage of it."

"What! He would sacrifice his own kind to the humans for power?" Atemu growled darkly.

"Yes, well he made a pact with some humans. And so the whole tribe went into 'battle' against the humans. The humans and the mutineers both fought the ocean clan and killed them. Then the werewolves turned on the humans and killed them as well."

"That's disgusting." Yugi muttered.

"It is." Pegasus agreed. "But the leader of the mutineers was a bloodthirsty, greedy and power hungry werewolf. He would do anything to gain power. The tribe leader that resides here, based on your description, has an eerily similar appearance to the one that led the mutiny."

"And, knowing our luck..." Atemu began.

"It just so happens that it will be the same person." Yugi finished.

"Shh!" Joey hissed. "They're coming!"

"Great. There go any plans for escape." Groaned Atemu.


	30. Part four Approbation Chapter 29

**Please leave a review and tell me what you think so far :)**

**Like to thank my beta phantomworks and everyone who reviewed**

* * *

All four friends waited in tense silence as they watched the tribe leader and five other werewolves approach the cages. The leader of the tribe of savages, as Yugi so fondly called them, glanced briefly at every single one of the occupants of his cages. His eyes, lingered on Yugi longer than they did for the others.

Yugi watched with guarded eyes as the leader approached his cage. As soon as he was in clawing range, Yugi snarled and threw himself at the cage, trying to attack the tribes leader. The two werewolves on their leader's side leapt towards Yugi.

Before Yugi could land a hit on the leader, he found himself on the floor of his cage clawing at his neck, trying to rip off the silver collar that the leaders body guards had placed on him. As quickly as the pain came, it left and once more Yugi was snarling at the leader, trying to claw the werewolves smirking faces to ribbons.

"He will do nicely." Yugi heard the leader say above the noise of his snarling. "Yes, he is very powerful. He will be much better than the others were."

As soon as they heard this, the four friends felt a sinking sensation in their guts. They didn't know what would happen to Yugi, but they all knew that whatever it was, it couldn't be good. Especially if what Pegasus said about this tribe's history was true.

The leader of the tribe turned to face his subordinates. "Open the cage and restrain him." He ordered, staring maliciously at Yugi.

All five of the leader's subordinates rushed forward to do his bidding. Yugi wasn't going to let them restrain him like some dog. Yugi sat in the middle of the cage looking docile and frightened, yet as soon as the door of his cage was wrenched open he charged forward and attacked the werewolves. The five subordinates beat Yugi into submission and managed to get the chains around him, but not without a few bit marks and a number of claw marks.

They dragged Yugi through the dirt, away from the cages, following after their leader. They ignored the loud protesting from Yugi's friends.

"Well, this is just wonderful. Now what do we do?" Joey asked after Yugi and his captors vanished from sight.

"Knowing our luck, we are probably all going to get separated and never see each other again and Yugi's going to be boiled alive in a giant pot as an offering to a god of power for the power hungry maniac that's the sadistic leader of these merry bunch of lunatic power driven psychotic savages." Atemu replied with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

"That is the most I have ever heard you speak at once!" Joey exclaimed, holding his hand to his chest in mock surprise.

"Oh shut it!"

"Nice. Well, I guess the best course of action is to just wait and see what happens." Joey said.

"Yes, as soon as we see an opportunity to escape, seize it."

"Agreed" Joey and Atemu voiced in agreement.


	31. Part four Approbation Chapter 30

**The end is near!**

**Thats apart of a song ya know :p By Glen Fry I think**

* * *

Atemu stared in shock. "I was joking about the giant pot." He muttered, staring with comically wide eyes at the scene before him.

"Well, it seems that your prediction was partly true, Atemu. We were as you all said, separated and now Yugi is dangling over a large pot of boiling whatever the hell that liquid is. The only thing that you were wrong about, was that we did in fact get to see each other again." Pegasus said.

"From now on, you Atemu are banned from making predictions." Joey muttered, still not believing that this was actually happening.

Yugi too could not believe that he was currently dangling over a giant pot of boiling liquid that looked like black sludge and smelled worse than a bunch of werewolf shit.

_I can't believe that they are going to boil me, alive damn it, into some offering to god for freaking power. THIS IS MESSED UP! WHY COULDNT THIS HAPPEN TO ATEMU? WHY ME! _Yugi thought frantically as he wildly struggled against the ropes that suspended him above the boiling goo, but his struggling was in vain.

As soon as Yugi had been collared and restrained, they had dragged him farther and farther away from the cages. Unlike his werewolf pack, this werewolf pack resided in huts rather than tents. They had dragged Yugi into an old woman's hut then left him there with the old woman. She then stripped him of his shirt after having made him transform into his human form.

She had pulled over a pot filled with different herbs. Yugi could distinguish every single one of those herbs with his heightened senses. There was rosemary, thyme, peppermint, and tea leaves as well as garlic Yugi noted with slight repulsion. Yugi hated garlic and now he was getting this liquid that had garlic in it poured all over him. _Oh well, at least I'm not a vampire. It would absolutely suck to be a vampire and get this shit poured on me._

The liquid dulled Yugi's senses and made him feel sluggish. Then, before he could blink, he was being bound in ropes and being hauled up high over another pile of goo.

_Today really isn't my day._ Yugi thought as he ceased his struggling and looked over the crowed for any signs of Atemu and the others.

But alas, he saw no signs of his friends. As far as he could tell in his sluggish state.

After regaining some of his senses a little while later and coming out of his groggy state, Yugi looked at the boiling pot of bubbling goo and the only thought that ran through his head was.

_There is no way in hell that I will go into that!_

With that thought in mind, Yugi tried to scan the crowd of the watching tribe, who stood with their fists held high in anticipation of his demise. No matter how hard Yugi looked he could not find anyone from his own pack, just the crazy barbarian pack. Which didn't ease Yugi's frazzled nerves at all.

For every second that went by, Yugi came a little closer to being cooked in the bubbling goo. Yugi could not help but think that he had the worst luck.

* * *

Tristan looked up from the forest floor and the tracks that he had been following for the past few months. As he glanced ahead of him, he heard loud noises. It sounded like a party of some sort was going on. Tristan found this odd because he was in the middle of a deserted forest. A forest where no human would ever set foot in. Tristan could either follow and investigate the strange sound, or he could continue trying to follow the foot prints.

Looking back down at the foot prints, he noticed that most of them had faded due to the rain, and there were no other signs within the forest telling Tristan that a living thing had passed by.

Sighing, Tristan shouldered his bow and quiver once more and set off in the direction of the strange noises. It was the best lead he had. Tristan would not simply turn the other cheek and walk away. Besides, the sound may help him in his search.

* * *

Yugi did not know how long he had been dangling for, and frankly, he did not want to know. Yugi was glad that he had been dangling like a piñata for the past couple of hours, despite how uncomfortable it was and hurtful to his human form. He was grateful that these barbarians liked to drag out their executions for their prisoners, because it gave him more time to live.

Yugi had been trying for the whole period upon which he had been left there, with the barbarian tribe cheering and jeering at him, to find his comrades. Though, he had no luck in his search.

Yugi had long abandoned thoughts of seeing his friends again, but it didn't hurt for him to still look. Yugi had abandoned all hope for escape, abandoned all hope for surviving. The only thought that ran through his head, was him wondering why they just didn't get it over with and kill him already, not that he minded that they were taking so long.

He wasn't in any hurry to lose his life, but the length of time that it took for the barbarians to take his life did peak his curiosity.

Giving up hope, in any situation, is not something that Yugi normally does. Normally, he would be kicking and screaming the whole way, showing defiance in any possible way that he could.

So, for Yugi's comrades, his friends, to see him, dangling lifelessly, suspended in mid air was quite a shock to them. They would have thought him dead if it were not for the occasional twitch and the customary blinking that even lycanthropy cannot cure you from.

* * *

**Thank you phantomworks. I love phantomworks' stories too, to bad phantomworks' barely updates :p**


	32. Part four Approbation Chapter 31

Hope you like this chapter :D

* * *

The tracks Tristan had been following led him straight to a camp located in a large clearing. It was an untidy and uncared for camp. It was messy, the cabin walls were stained with blood and more than half of them were falling apart. Further into the camp, he noticed well cared for cabins.

It was a drastic change from what Tristan had first witnessed. Sneaking and weaving his way between the cabins hiding in the shadows, he made his way further into the camp. In Tristan's peripheral vision, he noticed a strange gleaming. Turning his head towards the source, he noticed cages made of silver glittering in the midday sun.

"Werewolf hunters?" He growled lowly to himself, tightening his grip on his bow.

Before Tristan could investigate further, he heard loud cheering. Twitching his ears in the direction, he decided to follow the noise coming from the east. The closer that Tristan got to the noise, a putrid smell reached his nostrils. Shaking his head and sneezing, he wrinkled his nose and continued to crawl towards the noise.

When he reached the spot where the noise was loudest, he hid himself behind a nearby bush, peering over he gasped in surprise. Yugi, one of his friends, was dangling over a fire with a pot placed on top.

Un-shouldering his quiver of arrows, he riffled through it searching for his sharpest arrow. Stringing the arrow onto his bow, Tristan moved from behind the bush, circling behind the crowd of jeering werewolves.

Taking aim, he fired the arrow and moved back into the cover of the forest.

* * *

-SNAP-

The rope that was holding Yugi above the pot, snapped dropping him into the bubbling goo. Screaming, Yugi tried to twist and avoid the liquid.

"YUGI!"

-SPLASH- Yugi plunged beneath the liquid's surface, banging his head on the side of the pot. Atemu, Joey and Pegasus managed to over throw their captors and rush to the pot. Atemu plunged his paws beneath the liquid, grabbing hold of Yugi's unconscious body and pulling him out and against his chest.

"USHIO! LORD USHIO! The prisoners! They've escaped!"

"RUN FOR IT!" Joey yelled, pulling Pegasus behind him as they all ran for cover under the foliage of the forest.

The group ran for what seemed like hours. They stopped, panting for air when they heard the cries of their pursuers dimmed down to nothing.

"Yugi, Yugi wake up!" Atemu shook Yugi.

"Wha?" He murmured blinking, trying to focus his blurry vision.

"You hit your head on the side of the pot after I shot the rope." A voice said, emerging from behind a tree.

"Tristan!" They exclaimed relieved.

"Who are you?" Pegasus asked warily.

"I'm Tristan, like they just said. And I'm the one who helped you escape."

"No, you didn't!" cried Joey, getting up in Tristan's face. "You just shot a rope!"

"And I managed to get your pursuers off your ugly behind!" Tristan retorted furiously, hackles raised.

"Guys, please don't fight." pleaded Yugi weakly. "I've got a really bad headache."

"Yugi's right," said Atemu, glancing around "I'd rather get as far away from this place as possible."

"Fine, whatever." They muttered at the same time

* * *

"The importance of an object is not noticed until that object is lost." Joey said solemnly.

"What?"

The group of werewolves plus one vampire had been walking for two weeks now. They had all decided that it was best to head back to camp and inform the elders of what they had found out. Over the course of the two weeks, they had not heard anything from Ushio's tribe.

"Well, I just thought since everyone else has some sort of mantra, why can't I have my own! So I made one, and it shall be forever known that Joey created that mantra. Got it?" he said, leaning forward and staring at them intently.

"You're some kind of moron, you know that?" said Pegasus, raising a delicate eyebrow.

"Why you!"

"Let's just try to get back to camp with everyone in one piece." sighed Yugi as Atemu helped him over a log.

"Camp, that reminds me." Pegasus said with difficulty as he climbed over the same log Atemu helped Yugi over. "Gods, why are these trees so huge!"

"Dunno." panted Joey. "How come you help Yug but you leave the rest of us to fend for ourselves, Atem?"

"Cause Yugi's smaller than you. Besides you're taller than us! You can make it fine on your own."

"What were you saying about camp, Pegasus?" asked Tristan, ignoring Atemu and Joey's bickering.

"Well, I was wondering, if that Bakura fellow that's after you knows where it is?" Asked Pegasus.

After travelling with Pegasus for a week and a half, the werewolves had become close friends with the old vampire and decided to tell him about the situation with Bakura.

"No, he doesn't." growled Atemu.

"How come?" Asked Yugi, glancing up at Atemu, "I thought he lived with the pack?"

"He did." snarled Joey, kicking a nearby rock.

"But the pack moved after he and the others left so as not to get involved with him and his mad quest."

"Mad quest?" Pegasus asked, looking towards Tristan with interest.

"Mm, he wants to purge this world of humans." Tristan said sadly.

"That's insane! There is way more humans than there are werewolves!" cried Pegasus incredulously.

"Besides, if he wants to kill all humans," started Yugi, "Why would he lower himself to being a subject of the king?"

"Dunno," said Joey "Maybe he's not really allied with him at all?"

"Yeah, he could possibly just be using the king." Tristan agreed.

"Hey, look! There's the camp!" Yugi exclaimed excitedly.

"Already," said Atemu, "That was certainly fast. Odd."

"Who cares?" said Joey. "FOOOD! REAL FOOD!" he shouted, running off.

"He never changes." muttered Atemu

"Well, I'm off, gotta say hi to the twins," grinned Tristan.

"Where are you going, Pegasus?" asked Atemu

"Oh, me?" Pegasus said, stopping in his tracks, "I'm going to explore the new territory! Yes that's it, I like to get acquainted with new places before I settle down."

"Oh. Do you want a tour?" said Yugi politely.

"Oh, no. I wouldn't want to be a bother." He stuttered slightly, running off before Atemu or Yugi had a chance to reply.

"Huh, that was strange. Guess it's just me and you, Yugi."

"Yeah, what are you going to do now that we're back?

"We are going hunting!" he said, grabbing Yugi's arm and pulling him towards the hunting grounds.

"But I suck at hunting! I never manage to hit anything!" he cried, trying to break out of Atemu's grasp.

Atemu was relentless and wouldn't take no for an answer. "I'ma teach you how to hunt like a wolf then!"

"But, Atemu!" whined Yugi. "I don't want to!"

"Fine, you can watch me and skin my catches for dinner tonight."

"I'm not getting out of this, am I?"

"Nope." said Atemu, grinning from fury ear to fury ear.

* * *

"Rabbit? Again, Atemu?" sighed Yugi as he finished skinning his fourth rabbit.

"Don't complain. You're not even hunting!" he huffed, crossing his arms. "Do you know how hard it is to catch those stupid things?"

"No, but if it's as hard as you're making me believe." He paused, slipping the rabbits fur from its body, throwing them into separate piles. "But if it's so hard, why not catch something else?"

"Do you want to have to skin a deer?" asked Atemu with a knowing grin upon his lips.

"No..."

"Then stop complaining and get back to work!" laughed Atemu, running off to catch more rabbits.

Yugi paused in his work, glancing at the rabbit in his lap. "I really hate you." He said to the dead rabbit as if it could hear him.

* * *

"That, is a lot of rabbits" said Joey as he shifted through the pile of rabbit fur.

"Blame Atemu." Yugi said rubbing his brow in exhaustion. "Now help me take these back to the fire pit, won't you?"

"Yeah, sure sure." He said, placing the rabbit meat into the basket he had brought with him. "Man, the cooks will be happy with all this meat. The tanners will be another story."

"Ha, they'll get over it." said Atemu, emerging behind a nearby tree carrying three more rabbits and a mole.

Groaning, Yugi took the dead animals from him before starting to skin them, watching idly as Atemu and Joey went off to take his catches off to the cooks.

* * *

**Once more would like to thank phantomworks for the editing :)**


	33. Part four Approbation Chapter 32

**Okay I lied, it's near the end isn't part of a song, it was the beat is dead. But it sounds close enough ;p  
**

**Hm, did you know that Canadians are known for having one of the most musical voices? I watched a documentary on it in school. When Canadians ask questions our tone of voice goes up at the end giving it a musical quality.**

* * *

"Yugi, Yugi."

"Mhmm..." he groaned, rolling away from the offending hand.

"Yugi, wake up." The voice was frantic, wildly shaking Yugi.

"Yugi, you have to wake up!"

"Atemu?" sleepily Yugi rubbed his eyes, sitting up.

"We have to leave, now!" He said urgently, pulling Yugi into a standing position.

"Wha?" Yugi paused as the sounds of screaming and the tearing of flesh reached his ears. "What's going on." He asked fearfully.

"No time for that now. We have to leave." he said, pulling Yugi out of the tent.

Yugi stopped, ignoring Atemu's incessant tugs on his hand as he gazed at the destruction all around him. People were frantically running around, tents were set ablaze; the fire a raging inferno that was spreading towards the forest. It was chaos. Almost an exact replica of the destruction of his home.

Tears streamed down his face as Atemu pulled him away from his tent, dodging the people. Yugi sobbed, dropping to his knees, crawling to the dead bodies of the twins. He shook them, begging them to wake up. He started as he felt Atemu's arms wrap around him.

"They're dead, Yugi." he vaguely heard Atemu whisper into his ear. "We have to go."

Yugi let himself be pulled away into the forest by Atemu, farther and farther from his home. He cried harder, wondering if Joey and Tristan were alright. Or if they were like the twins. He bit his lower lip, collapsing into the dirt when Atemu stopped pulling him. He wondered if Pegasus had made it out alive.

"A-Atemu." he wailed, clinging onto Atemu's shoulders.

Atemu swallowed thickly, running his hand up and down Yugi's back in a soothing motion. "It'll be okay."

"What, what happened?" He stuttered, leaning away from Atemu and wiping the snot from his nose.

"I don't know. I only caught a glimpse of him before I ran to find you."

"Him?"

"Bakura." he snarled savagely.

"But, how?" whispered Yugi fearfully.

They tensed as they heard, pounding footsteps reach their ears. "YOU!"

"JOEY! LET HIM GO!" yelled Atemu.

Joey had burst through the trees along with Tristan, grabbing Yugi by the neck and slamming him against the tree.  
Yugi struggled in his grasp, clawing at Joey's arms while his legs kicked furiously off the ground.

"It was you, wasn't it? You little bastard!" he yelled, rearing his fist back preparing to punch Yugi.

Atemu moved quickly, grabbing Joey's fist and delivering his own punch to Joey. Joey dropped Yugi, clutching his nose as he stumbled back. Snarling viciously, Atemu crouched defensively in front of Yugi.

"How can you defend that thing!" snarled Joey, narrowing his eyes and preparing to launch himself at Atemu. Tristan moved forward blocking, the two wolves from Joey's vision.

"Let's just all calm down and talk this out." he said placidly.

"Talk it out!" roared Joey, "There's nothing to talk about! That little bastard sold us out!" he snarled, trying to push Tristan out of the way.

Yugi whimpered fearfully, gripping onto Atemu's back. "Shhh, it'll be okay." Atemu soothed, rubbing Yugi's head.

"And how do you figure that!" yelled Atemu, bringing his attention back to Joey who was struggling against Tristan's hold.

"You said that a bitten werewolf has a connection with the ones that bit them!" yelled Joey. "He prolly planned it from the start with Bakura!"

"That's a lie and you know it!" yelled Tristan, pushing Joey against a tree."You're angry, we get that. We all are!" said Tristan, gesturing around him

"Blaming Yugi won't make things better!" said Atemu.

"I-I" Joey glanced down at the forest floor. "He had to, who else woulv'e?" He questioned desperately.

"I don't know," said Atemy "But I know it wasn't Yugi. You know that too, Joey."

"But, he's his brother!" Joey yelled.

"SO AM I!" roared Atemu. "Yet I don't see you blaming me!"

Atemu glanced back at Yugi, wincing at the hurt expression on his face. "Joey, you know it wasn't us who told Bakura."

"B-but..."

"ENOUGH!" Yelled Tristan, panting slightly. "I think I know who did."

Everyone stopped all movement. Joey ceased his struggles so Tristan backed off. Glancing between the three werewolves before he continued. "I think it was Pegasus."

"WHAT?" They yelled in unison.

"He doesn't even know who Bakura is!" Joey protested.

"Maybe he just pretended." Yugi whispered, moving to stand by Atemu's side.

"He was asking a lot of questions about what Bakura knew and didn't know. Not to mention his odd disappearance for a few hours." Mused Atemu, scratching the side of his jaw idly.

"This is just messed up." whispered Joey, dropping to the floor. "I can't deal with this. Everyone's dying. Why would he kill his own kind?" he whispered brokenly.

Yugi moved silently over to Joey's side, hesitating slightly before wrapping his arms around Joey. He felt him stiffen at his touch before relaxing slightly. Yugi rested his head upon Joey's shoulder, yawning.

"I don't think anyone knows why." Tristan murmured, sitting on the other side of Joey.

"All we can do is try to get as far away as we can." Atemu muttered, trying to stifle his own yawn as he picked Yugi up, stealing his spot and placing him in his lap, curling his tail around him.

"Yeah, but in the morning." Yawned Joey.

Yugi woke up, stretching slightly in the middle of the night. Looking around, he noticed that Tristan and Joey's limbs were tangled together as they snored peacefully. Giggling quietly, Yugi looked up at Atemu, noticing his slow breathing. Suddenly, Atemu's eyes opened, revealing bright crimson orbs. He smiled, laughing quietly as Yugi fell out of his lap from fright.

Calming himself, Yugi grabbed his tail, running his hands across the fur nervously, glancing up at Atemu so often and chewing on his lip. "Atemu, why didn't..."

"Why didn't I tell you?" Atemu finished gently. "I don't honestly know. I guess I just didn't want you to get the wrong idea."

"Wrong Idea?" cocking his head to the side, he dropped his tail, crawling closer to Atemu.

"I just didn't want you to think that I was in league with Bakura or something." He lowered his head, ears flattening in shame "I was ashamed. I'm ashamed to be related to him."

Tears made their way down his face, "I was ashamed at how alike we are."

"You're nothing like him!" protested Yugi, grabbing Atemu's paw between his own smaller paws.

"We are."Atemu whispered furiously, gazing into Yugi's wide amethyst eyes. "I treated you horribly. I hate humans just as much as Bakura. I am exactly like him."  
Atemu lowered his head, too scared to look at Yugi, to afraid of what he would find.

"But you're not, Atemu! I know you! I know you never planned to harm me or any human for that matter!" cried Yugi, hugging Atemu as he cried, "I know you don't acknowledge Bakura as your brother. I know that you don't want to be like Bakura, and you're not!"

"I want to believe you" whispered Atemu, clinging to Yugi.

"Then why don't you?"

"It's just not that easy. I remember how much I hated humans. How little I cared for anyone other than myself."

"But you don't anymore!"

They stayed like that for a while longer before they both drifted off to sleep, still clinging to each other.

* * *

The four boys slept peacefully for the remainder of the night, not noticing the dark shapes creeping between the trees until it was too late.

They were kicked savagely in the ribs, instantly waking them up. They huddled together as they heard the dark chuckles emitting from those surrounding them.

"I have waited a long time for this. You see, I was going to kill you and your sister on your way to Oxford. Until I discovered that you were the one."

"Bakura. What do you mean? What are you talking about?" Atemu growled, crouching into a defensive position in front of his friends.

"You haven't figured it out yet?" Bakura laughed.

"Obviously not, otherwise we wouldn't be resigned to asking your ugly mug." Tristan snipped.

"Impertinent boy." Bakura snarled. "No matter I will tell you any way. You may have noticed that he was not burned by the silver, yet you." He pointed at Atemu and Joey, "were."

"Get on with it." Joey ground out.

"A long time ago, it was said that only a special branch of werewolves and humans could touch silver. While they would feel the pain of being burned, they will not have the affects appear like us."

"Pegasus already told us this!" growled Joey

"Ah, yes. Pegasus. He was such a good subordinate."

"SO HE SOLD US OUT!" shouted Joey "THAT BASTARD! I'LL KILL HIM!"

"Unfortunately, I already did that for you. He had worn out his use."

"I don't care about that. Why did you destroy Exeter?" Yugi growled.

"Well, to start civil war of course. It's already starting. See, the humans will kill each other off because of this and they will be left utterly defenseless. Then me and the other werewolves will just kill off the rest. It's a flawless plan."

"You're crazy!" Atemu spat.

By now Bakura's lackeys had the four of them restrained, holding their arms behind their backs in a painful position, hindering any movement and dismissing any thoughts of escape.

"You would know all about that, wouldn't you? Being my brother and all." He laughed.

"Any way, I have no more use for you, Yugi. That is your name correct." Bakura asked, running his paw across Yugi's head before harshly pulling his ear.

Yugi cried out in pain.

"I will take that as a yes." He chuckled darkly. "Since you opened the silver door for me back in London, I no longer need you. But just in case… Marik, cut off his ear."

"NO!" Atemu screamed, struggling against the bulking masses that were holding him back.

Yugi tried, in vain, to get away from the blade Marik was holding against his ear. Atemu screamed again as Joey and Tristan looked away from the gruesome scene with eyes closed tightly.

"I would have said your paw, but that would make it difficult when we put you in chains."

Bakura laughed as Marik cut off Yugi's ear, but he, as well as Atemu's screams, were drowned out by Yugi's shrieks of pain. The blood poured down his head into his eyes, dripping onto the forest floor. Bakura's lackeys let go of him and Yugi dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

Yugi blocked out all the sounds around him. He ignored Atemu's screams, ignored the cheering from Bakura's followers and he ignored Bakura's chilling laughter. All Yugi could focus on was the pounding, throbbing, pain in his head.

Slowly, darkness crept around the edges of Yugi's mind, gradually creeping up, like dark claws. No matter how hard he tried to fight it off, the darkness started to grow bigger. Eventually, the darkness sunk its claws into him and Yugi fainted much to the enjoyment of Bakura and his men and to the horror of Atem, Tristan and Joey.

* * *

**I would like to thank phantomworks for bearing with me on this long story :) **

**phantomworks, you are truly amazing :D**


	34. Part four Approbation Chapter 33

**Hope you enjoy. Please leave a review It has come to my attention that Chapter 27 was not up, It is up and now in its rightfull place between chapter 26 and 28  
**

* * *

When Yugi woke up, he was alone in a dark cell. As Yugi looked around and his eyes adjusted, he noticed a form huddled in the corner, although he couldn't be sure what it was because his vision was slightly blurry. He tried to move his paws, but something heavy restricted him from moving them. On closer inspection, he noticed that it was chains.

He twitched his ears, hoping that he really didn't get his ear chopped off. To Yugi's dismay, only one ear moved. He closed his eyes and began the breathing exercises that Atemu had taught him one night after waking from a nightmare.

He called out to the lump in the corner of his cell, asking for its names, promising that he wouldn't hurt them. Reassuring the lump like he would do for Isabelle, when she was scared during thunderstorms.

Slowly, the lump came closer to Yugi. Yugi then noticed as the last of the blurriness left his vision. He noticed that it was two kids, just a couple of years older than Isabelle.

"What are your names?"

"My name is Mokuba and this is my twin Leo."

"How did you get here?" Yugi questioned gently.

"We're orphans and we were caught stealing from one of the werewolves. We didn't know he was a werewolf." The boy cried.

"Now we're here for their amusement." Mokuba said darkly.

"What do you mean?"

"There was another girl around your age. She was taken while we were asleep. We woke up to her screams and the laughter of men." Leo said shivering.

"I see." Yugi said calmly.

"What happened to you? You're a werewolf-" "-with a missing ear-" "Why would you be here?"

"Because I was once a human, I don't agree with the other werewolves so they cut off my ear and threw me here."

"Oh. You were once like us?" The little boy asked, inching closer.

Yugi smiled sadly. "Yes. I was... I had a little sister a couple years younger than you and a few older brothers."

"What happened?" Mokuba asked.

"My family was murdered, but I managed to protect Isabelle. She is still a human."

"Oh. You must miss her terribly." Leo said, cuddling up on his side.

Mokuba, seeing that Yugi wasn't going to hurt them, cuddled up to him as well.

"I'll help you get out of here. I promise." Yugi whispered as the three of them fell asleep.

* * *

For the next couple of weeks, Yugi worked on getting the twins out of the cell. Luckily for them, there were bars on a little window. Each day, Yugi would work on bending them apart.

Yugi discovered that the twins were survivors of the attack on Exeter. When he heard this, he was overjoyed and he tried all the harder to get them free. The guards popped in once in a while, making crude comments at Yugi and throwing stale pieces of bread at them and making a point of spilling their limited amount of water.

It was a depressing atmosphere but Yugi tried to make the best of it by telling the two children stories. It cheered Leo and Mokuba up to hear the tales, but not by much. They had to be careful not to get caught by the guards so Yugi usually had to work on the bars during the night and sleep during the day. Through the whole duration of their imprisonment, only one question went through Yugi's head. Not why am I here, not what happened, nor are they going to kill me but.

_What has happened to Atemu, Tristan and Jason? What has Bakura done to them? Are they as bad off as me, or are they dead already? I hope they're not dead._

* * *

Three days had passed and so far Yugi was making slow progress on separating the bars but every day with his werewolf strength he managed to part the bars.

Finally after days of trying, when the children had given up hope and Yugi was near exhaustion, the bars finally gave way. Yugi had managed to make a sizable gape. Unfortunately, the gap wasn't big enough for Yugi. It would be impossible for him to get through but it was big enough for the children.

Yugi turned towards the sleeping children. A soft smile crept up on his face as he was reminded of how much they were like Isabelle. He silently padded over to them and crouched down, shaking them awake.

"Come on Mokuba, Leo. I did it. You can go now, you're free." He whispered.

Rubbing sleep out of his eyes with his hand, Mokuba looked up at Yugi confused, while Leo shot out of the straw beaming at Yugi as she hugged him tightly whispering 'thank you' over and over again like a silent mantra.

"Your coming with us, right?" Mokuba asked once he got his wits about him.

Leo quieted down at that and stepped back from Yugi a tiny hopeful look on his face. Yugi hated having to crush that and tell the small children that they would be on their own.

Yugi shook his head mutely and looked down at his paws as Leo silently started to cry. "I'm sorry. I cannot fit through the gap. You two can though."

Mokuba stepped closer to Yugi and whispered into his ear so Leo couldn't hear.

"You'll be killed for this. Won't you?"

"You have always been too smart for your age. Mokuba you are wise beyond your years. Take care of yourself and your sister."

"I...will..." Mokuba choked out, trying to hold back his tears.

"Let them fall Mokuba. Don't be ashamed." Yugi said, pulling the little boy and his brother into a hug.

They grabbed onto his fur, crying as he carried them over to the little window in their damp and dark cell. Mokuba stumbled back, still crying as Yugi picked up Leo as if he weighed nothing more than a pillow. Leo cried harder as he was pushed through the bars and onto the grass outside. He tried to get back but Yugi shook his head, placed a kiss on his forehead and turned around and picked up Mokuba and did the same to him that he had done to Leo..

"Goodbye...Y-Yugi...We'll...I'll never...F-forget y-you." Mokuba sniffled.

"Neither will I." Yugi whispered, patting them on the head. "Now go before you are caught."

Yugi watched as the two young kids scampered off in the dark silent night. Yugi knew that the guards would come soon and find them missing. They would then report to Akefia or Bakura, whatever his name was, and he would be killed. Bakura had just been waiting for an excuse to kill him and Yugi had just given it to him.

* * *

Yugi didn't have to wait long before the guards opened the cell door to give him his food. They noticed the two missing prisoners as they were leaving, _idiots,_ and gave Yugi a beating to make sure he couldn't escape, before running off to tell their master Bakura.

Yugi waited anxiously for the verdict as the hours ticked by. A guard stood watch outside his cell just staring at him, un-moving. No word came about what would happen to Yugi, his fate was still a mystery.

After hours of waiting, a clattering noise reached Yugi's ears, coming from the stairwell. Bakura walked slowly in front of Yugi's view, blocking all else. All Yugi could see was Bakura's ugly mug.

"Well, well I got told by a little birdie that you have been very naughty." Bakura said, scolding him like a kid.

Yugi scowled.

"Now, now there is no need to get angry, Yugi." He chuckled

Yugi growled and that was the only warning Bakura got before Yugi smashed himself against the cell bars, trying to claw at him. Yugi managed to slash his claws deeply into Bakura's face just like he had done to Yugi so many months ago.

Darkly, Yugi smirked as Bakura clamped a paw to his muzzle and laughed as Bakura fled the room, drowning out Bakura as he barked out his latest orders.

Yugi continued to laugh, a hollow empty laugh as the cell door was opened and continued as guards flooded his cell. It unnerved the guards to hear it but shaking their heads one of them, Marik, came forward, unsheathing his sword and smacked the pommel of his sword on the back of Yugi's head, instantly knocking him out cold.

* * *

When Yugi regained consciousness, it was to feel the throbbing pain at the back of his head surprisingly not caused by his lost ear. Looking around, Yugi noticed his best friend Atemu, Tristan and Joey as well as Vivian.

_So they are alive and Vivian was in league with Bakura the whole time I knew her. Wonderful._

"Ah Yugi, you're awake. I was going to keep you alive just, cut off your paw for helping the prisoners escape...but I wasn't too pleased with you clawing half my face off." He broke off smiling.

He then noticed Yugi glaring at Vivian. "Ah yes her...You have probably already figured out that she was on my side all along. Although she did actually have a crush on you. " Bakura chuckled.

Yugi then noticed that his paws were chained behind his back and that Atemu, Tristan, and Joey's weren't.

"Atemu?" he asked confused.

Even though Yugi only spoke one word, Atemu understood as if Yugi had asked a whole question. He turned his head away and wouldn't look Yugi in the eye. Yugi asked the same of Joey but got the same response as he did from Atemu.

_What's going on?_

Yugi was so desperate for answers, he was willing to ask Marik or Bakura himself or hell, even Vivian. Before Yugi could utter a single word, he was cut off by Bakuras simple statement.

A simple statement that was said so casually and so coldly, without any emotion at all, that it sent chills down Yugi's spine and caused murmuring around the room. Slowly, Bakura's minions began a chant, slow and quiet at first but soon escalated in speed and volume.

"Kill him, kill him, kill him," they chanted with no emotion in their voice, but a dark fire burned in their eyes.

Atemu slowly unsheathed the sword at his side, the sword that they had found together in the cave, gripping the hilt tightly, so tight it looked like he would snap the hilt in half. Passing the cursed sword over to Bakura, the cross-guard was so beautiful it seemed to be mocking him as it shined and the jewels sparkled in the candlelight.

_Should it not burn them as it did me?_ Yugi wondered briefly, but upon closer inspection, he noticed that Bakura was wearing thick leather gloves made out of werewolf hide!

"Ah yes. I see you noticed my nice new gloves. Werewolf hide is a wonderful way to protect yourself from silver, that is if it is not your own hide." Here Bakura broke off into maniacal laughter.

"Yes, I used that girl that was in the dungeon previously to you. What a horrid damp and dark place that dungeon do you not agree Yugi? Any way her screams were what the children heard. You see, she was alive as we skinned her. Such a pity too, she was such a lovely little thing. But unfortunately for her and fortunately for me, she did not agree with what we were doing. Her name was Anzu, I believe. So as you now know, she had to go. Came in useful she did, both alive and dead." He chuckled darkly.

Yugi felt anger burn within him at what Bakura said, felt nauseous at the sick pleasure Bakura had spoken with as he said that. He could not believe that this man was Atemu's brother, that this vindictive cruel thing was related to his best friend and himself, or what used to be his best friend.

Yugi looked up at his best friend from his kneeling position on the floor to the sword pointed at his chest. Fear and hatred erupted in his heart, mixing and churning, both fighting for dominance.

_It's not supposed to end like this, _he thought furiously, _Bakura's supposed to die. Not me!_

Bakura laughed cold and cruel. No mercy or regret in his icy eyes only malicious glee. The same was reflected in his minions.

Yugi stared at the sword, slowly tracing circles along his chest, directly over his heart.

"You will die, Yugi Motou. I will however make it quick." he smirked. "But I wouldn't know if it's painless. Never did die you see." He grinned, flashing sharp pearly white teeth. He slowly brought back the sword, preparing the strike that would end his life.

"Why?" Yugi asked desperately, trying to prolong his last few moments of life.

"Why?" Bakura chuckled humorously, "I really should just kill you now. You are a nuisance, but as a last act of mercy I will satisfy your curiosity."

"Now, I already told you why I placed the attack on your cozy little town Exeter. Why I spared you, you already figured out. Why I didn't kill you sooner? It was fun to torture my little brother. He hated the thought of you in prison, you see. Now as we know I am the most powerful werewolf because I am a pure blood unlike..."

"All right! I get it! You are the greatest!" Tristan yelled with sarcasm.

"You...You cut me off!" Bakura cried indignantly.

"Well as I was saying, there was a story about a powerful human line and if turned into a werewolf they would be able to touch silver without actually burning themselves. Amazing, isn't it? So I figured out with my brilliance..."

_"_I was told that you were my brother as well, why not just bite Atemu? Why go through all the trouble?"

"You, my brother?" Bakura blinked before bursting forth in peals of laughter "Oh that's RICH! Who told you that?"

"Pegasus?" Bakura laughed, clutching his stomach.

"So, Yugi, isn't our brother?" questioned Atemu, tilting his head to the left.

"No, gods no. Ha ugh, that's funny. Nope, he's _not _our brother. Our brother was _younger _than you, Atemu. Yugi's the same age as you!"

"Oh, right."

"Okay then, how did you get the king to believe you with the lie that my family were traitors to the crown?"

"Stop cutting me off! I was getting to that! Well, it was quite simple. Did you hear the rumours of a werewolf running around causing mayhem and destruction a couple years ago?"

_Well duh, everybody of noble blood knew. Hell, even the peasants knew. Idiot._

"Wel,l of course you did. Well, I found out that the werewolf was a human turned werewolf. He was later killed of course, but I did a bit of research because I am just that awesome." here everyone rolled their eyes and Atemu yelled at him to get on with. "Alright. Jeez, you people are impatient. Anyway, I managed to find that he was related to the Motou's, your family Yugi. He was you father's brother. So your uncle."

"Oh."

"Yes oh. Anyway I think I have talked enough about your stupidity and my brilliance. Time for you to die, Yugi Motou."

_My stupidity? Are you kidding me? More like the other way around. Wait...I'm gunna die? No I don't wanna die._

A stabbing white hot pain erupted in his chest as the shadows crept into his mind and inky darkness seeped into his vision, threatening to take over. Yugi tried to fight it but he fought in vain, for nothing could fight against this and win. He was fighting a losing battle.

But Yugi gained the upper hand, the darkness was receding. With new hope Yugi fought against it. The room came into view again, he was going to win. He would be the first to cheat death.

Just when he thought he would prevail, he lost and the cold darkness took over him as his breathing slowed and the blood pooled around his knees as he was pulled into death's cold and loving embrace.

Frantically, Tristan broke out from the crowd, yelling at Atemu and Joey.

"HOW COULD YOU! YOU'RE PATHETIC!" he scooped Yugi's cooling body up, "How could you honestly believe that he would keep his promise?" he whispered, before he ran through the crowd of celebrating werewolves. Pushing past a crying Atemu and shocked Joey, he rushed out of the castle far off into the night.

Yugi Motou died that night. Never would he take revenge on the man who killed so many. Never would he be able to watch as Bakura breathed his last with Yugi's sword plunged in his gut as retribution for condemning a whole city to death. Never would he laugh or cry again.

Yugi Motou, though, would always be remembered for his bravery and kindness and his will to live. He would always be remembered for years to come, by those two children he saved as well as his friends and enemies.

Gently, Tristan placed Yugi's ice cold body on the ground a few miles from Bakura's castle.

"He's dead," he whispered as he closed Yugi's eyelids.

Or was he?


	35. Epilogue

**Hey, Well, this is the end of Bloody Moons. If you wish for a sequel, you can vote and I'll post it. If you don't then I wont bother, yeah?**

**Thanks to Phantom once again :)**

* * *

"That was an incredible story Atemu. But if you don't mind me asking, what made you write such a tale?"

The book's pages fell shut with a thump that echoed across the room. The nurse looked across the table at Atemu who was silently watching her. He bowed his head and stared at his hands, blonde bangs falling down to block his face from view.

"It was real." He said calmly. "All of it."

"Atemu werewolves aren't real. Nor did you ever live in England, much less the medieval times." She said calmly.

"No I didn't, but that is based off of truth. Yugi was my best friend. He died from drug overdose. That's why I'm here. I was with him the day he died. I gave him the drugs. Joey was there too. Bakura supplied us with the drugs. I just wanted Yugi to be a hero."

"I don't know what to say."

"Those twins in the prison cell, Yugi met them on the street. They were going to try and do drugs but Yugi told them not to and turned them off it. They never have done drugs or thought about it since."

"Besides," the nurse said sitting back down across from him, "We don't know if he's dead for sure."

"He hasn't woken up for 2 years. He's as good as dead." cried Atemu.

The nurse got up and hugged the silently crying boy.

"It wasn't your fault he… Yugi was a hero, Atemu."

"I know." He said staring at the book, wishing that he could go back and change what happened. "I know."

The past is best left behind, learn from it. Do not forget it but do not dwell on it needlessly. The future is always ahead prepare for it using the mistakes from your past. The present is now, live it to its fullest.

And who knows, maybe, just maybe. Yugi will one day open his eyes and read the story Atemu wrote for him.


End file.
